REVIEWS
"Delightfully inventive." — The Strad
"Apparently small music can be this big. You can’t get enough of it.” — Die Welt (Germany)
BIOGRAPHY
Matthew Baker, baryton Brett Walfish, viola Ismar Gomes, cello
Led by Matthew Baker, one of only a handful baryton performers in the world, the Valencia Baryton Project was founded in Valencia, Spain with the vision of performing the nearly 160 works written by Franz Joseph Haydn for the baryton as well as compositions by other composers, both modern and classical. At the heart of the ensemble is the traditional baryton trio—baryton, viola, and violoncello—for which Haydn wrote 123 works of outstanding beauty during his time as the court composer for the Prince Esterhazy of Austria.
The Valencia Baryton Project has inspired audiences in sold-out concerts and festivals throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe. Their work with the baryton, an instrument considered to have been the pinnacle of aristocratic instruments of the classical era, has been featured in full length articles and reviews in major publications such as The Strad (which called them “delightfully inventive”), and a cover story in Ritmo (Spain).
They have also been broadcast on BBC 3 (UK), Radio Nacional de España, WDR 3 (Germany), RTE (Ireland), CBC (Canada) and Arizona Public Radio, among many others. Matt Baker was also featured in a full-length article in the Strad about the instrument in March of 2023.
In addition to their performances, Valencia Baryton Project’s educational work has brought this new instrument to institutions ranging from rural elementary schools to advanced educational institutions such as the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, University of Chicago, and UCLA, among others.
In 2021, the Valencia Baryton Project released Naxos Records’ first ever baryton CD, launching a new series for the label. Their début disc was lauded as “superb” (All Music, USA), “a discovery for curious ears” (Online Merker, Switzerland), and “highly recommended” (Stretto, Belgium). Die Welt, one of Europe's most influential daily newspapers, said, “you can’t get enough of it.” It was included on All Music’s Favorite Classical Albums of 2021, nominated for Best Classical CD at Spain's 2021 Carles Santos Awards, and made the Top 20 list of Gramophone Magazine’s classical charts. Their recently-released second volume for Naxos received high praise in The Strad: “the Valencia Baryton Project sounds more stylishly 18th-century than its rivals on record” and the American Record Guide: “These performances are the best I have heard of this repertoire.”
Beyond performing and recording the works of Haydn and his contemporaries, the Valencia Baryton Project is committed to the creation of new compositions for this forgotten instrument. They have commissioned and collaborated with composers David Gorton (UK), Steve Zink (Canada); Ivan Moody (UK), John Pickup (UK); José Zárate (Spain) and Julian Calarco (Argentina) to expand the repertoire and incorporate this novel soundscape into modern composition.