New York’s Legendary Period Instrument Orchestra

The Clarion Music Society is unique in its commitment to performing lost or neglected works from the 18th and 19th centuries as well as well-known masterworks from these periods that are rarely heard on authentic instruments.

The first period-instrument orchestra with a regular concert season in New York, the Clarion Music Society was founded in 1957 by Newell Jenkins, a renowned musicologist and conductor. Pursuing his research in music libraries and archives throughout Europe, he uncovered and catalogued the entire opus of Giovanni Battista Sammartini (1700/1-1775), the great Italian master who taught Gluck, influenced the classical style developed by Mozart and Haydn, and whose works had been lost for centuries. His research on Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was vital in reviving that composer’s works and public image in the United States during the 1960s and 70s.

As Clarion’s Music Director, Jenkins established Clarion as an innovative force in the field of Early Music by presenting world-class performances of rarely-heard works, many of which he had discovered himself. During his nearly 40 years at the helm, Clarion performed more than 70 world premieres, which represented only a fraction of the fruits of his research.

Following the death of Newell Jenkins in 1996, and a brief tenure by harpsichordist Frederick Hammond, the Clarion board decided to transform the organization into a grant-giving foundation for projects in Early Music. A two-time recipient of Clarion grants was Steven Fox, the founder and conductor of Russia’s first period-instrument orchestra, Musica Antiqua St. Petersburg, which now is also under the Clarion Music Society banner. In fall 2005, he was invited to lead Clarion into the 21st century.