Local, foreign artists flock to Tbilisi Baroque Festival

Internationally recognised musical artists are coming to Georgia's capital Tbilisi this week to celebrate the second edition of the Caucasus region's first ever baroque music festival. 

Starting November 10, the Shota Rustaveli State Drama Theatre will host six concerts of the Tbilisi Baroque Festival.

The annual event was established last year as the first ever baroque music festival in the Caucasus. It was founded by the Tbilisi State Chamber Orchestra, also known as Georgian Sinfonietta.

See the promotional video for 2016 Tbilisi Baroque Festival below:

Held with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia, this year's festival will host performances involving "old fashioned instruments" and music by famous late composers.

The program of events will feature celebrated international musicians including Germany-based conductor Cornelia von Kerssenbrock, Dutch ensemble The Spirit of Gambo, Australian flutist Georgia Browne and American-Korean soprano Kristen Witmer.

See a 2015 performance of the ensemble The Spirit of Gambo on the Dutch TV program NTR Podium below:

These musicians will be joined by Georgian artists David Gogolashvili, Mikheil Abramishvili and Giorgi Kuzanashvili, who will perform works by composers such as George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach.

In addition to concert performances, the baroque festival will host talks on music prior to some of the shows.

Australia-born flutist Georgia Browne will perform in this year's festival. Photo from www.georgiabrowne.com.

Last year's event showcased the talents of some of the world's top baroque musicians including Jordi Saval, Christine Busch and Sergio Azzolini over seven evenings at the Rustaveli venue and Kutaisi Opera Theatre in central Georgia.

This year's Tbilisi Baroque Festival will continue until December 14.

See the full program and details of the festival here.