Bates presents Italian baroque music ensemble Europa Galante

Europa Galante, a Baroque music ensemble from Italy, performs at Bates College at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, at the Olin Concert Hall at Bates College, 75 Russell St.

Admission is $12 for the general public, available at batestickets.com. Free tickets are available to the first 100 seniors and students; reserve by emailing olinarts@bates.edu. For more information about this Olin Arts Alive concert, please call 207-786-6135.

Europa Galante’s program Apotheosis and Folia includes music by Vivaldi, Couperin, Mascitti, Corelli and C.P.E. Bach.

Founded and directed by violinist Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante has performed at festivals and major venues worldwide, including La Scala in Milan, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, Lincoln Center in New York and the Sydney Opera House.

A New York Times reviewer wrote that “Europa Galante plays with the precision and zestiness necessary to make the music of Vivaldi and his Italian contemporaries sizzle as it must have in their day. In instrumental works, these musicians move as a single organism.”

The ensemble was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006 for their record of Vivaldi’s opera Bajazet.

Biondi, born in Palermo, began his international music career at the age of 12 with a solo performance with the RAI Symphony Orchestra, a major Italian symphony orchestra. Since then, he has performed with ensembles including Cappella Real, Musica Antique Wien, Seminario Musicale, La Chapelle Royale and Les Musiciens du Louvre. In 1990, Biondi founded Europa Galante.