Conor Gricmanis is a young and pioneering  Baroque Violinist who combines his passions for historical performance and composition to explore never-ending palettes of performance style, colour, and flair.  Raised in a farming background in rural Shropshire, England, Conor graduated as a Christopher Hogwood Scholar in 2020 receiving a Master’s degree in Historical Violin at the Royal College of Music with professor, soloist, and leader of the Academy of ancient Music, Bojan Čićič.

Conor also undertook his undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music where he studied under world renowned Rachel Podger for five years, and was a concerto soloist for Orchestre Francais Des Jeunes during this time.

 

Conor was appointed associate leader of the London Baroque Orchestra in early 2021, and also performs regularly with the Academy of Ancient music, Florilegium, his own ensembles: Noxwode (a baroque string band), Sylvatica (an 18th century chamber orchestra with woodwind), and Théodora (a chamber ensemble based in France specialising in 17th/18th century French repertoire). He has worked with orchestras/ensembles in Holland and in France, and was recently appointed as the new violinist for the Belgium chamber group Europa Ritrovata. Conor is featured on a number of world premiere recordings with ensembles such as The Illyrian Consort, the Academy of Ancient Music, and The Restoration Consort, and is excited to be preparing his first solo album of 17th century stylus fantasticus Violin sonatas with Noxwode, and the esteemed keyboard player Timothy Roberts.

 

He has performed around the world, including some of the finest venues, such as Wigmore Hall, Brugge Concertgebouw, and The Royal Chapel of Versailles, including a solo tour through the USA. In Conor’s time at the Royal College of Music, he was selected as violinist to perform a twelve concert series at Buckingham Palace, and also as leader and soloist of the Royal College of Music’s Baroque Orchestra for concerts both in Oxford and London. In late 2020, Conor helped establish The WIG Society, an ensemble specialising in historical performances of classical and romantic music based in Bruxelles, and has enjoyed recording quartets and quintets since the birth of the ensemble.

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Conor has been the concert master/soloist and instrumental tutor for the Yorke Trust's Early Msuic Course for historical music, and is regularly asked to lead various early music ensembles. 

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During his professional career, Conor has performed in many famous venues and festivals such as Wigmore Hall, St James Piccadilly, Duke's Hall (Royal Academy of Music), Dora Stoutzker Hall (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama), Buxton Opera House, the Grange Festival, Llandaff Cathedral, Milton Court, St Salvator's Chapel (St Andrew's), Festival Périgord Noir, Theatre Roger Barat (Herblay, France), Westerkerk (Amsterdam), Utrecht Early Msuic Festival, Brugge Early Music Festival, The Royal Chapel of Versailles Palace, St Martin in the Field, Coudenberg Palace, and the Royal Festival Hall, amongst many others.

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