The ensemble Musica Antiqua Köln, led by Reinhard Goebel, is renowned for its lively, virtuoso interpretations of 17^th - and 18^th -century music and for its inspired and imaginative historical performance practice.

Born in Siegen in Westphalia, Germany, in 1952, REINHARD GOEBEL studied the modern and Baroque violin with, amongst others, Eduard Melkus, Marie Leonhardt and Franzjosef Maier, and musicology at the University of Cologne. He soon developed a deep historical interest in German music composed in the Baroque era and has since acquired a wealth of knowledge in this field that is virtually unequalled by any other artist. A study, often lasting many years, of the circumstan­ces surrounding a composition to attain a deep knowledge of the music's complexities is just one of the characteristics of his work. In 1997 he was awarded North Rhine-Westphalia's state prize ,,for his exemplary performances" and his ,,research into the music of the Baroque, Rococo and Early­ Classical eras, which has resulted in exciting, new findings". In March 2002, in acknowledgment of his ,,worldwide activity on behalf of the dissemina­tion of Telemann's works", Reinhard Goebel was awarded the Georg Philipp Telemann Prize of the City of Magdeburg.

In 1973, together with fellow students at the Cologne Musikhochschule, Goebel founded the MUSICA ANTIQUA KÖLN to perform Baroque chamber music, and ten years later expanded the ensemble to form a Baroque orchestra. The en­semble's international breakthrough came in 1979 with their debut performances at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall and at the Holland Festival. Since this time the ensemble, under their concertmaster Reinhard Goebel, is not only a regular guest at all European musical centres but has also undertaken numerous concert tours to the USA, Australia, South America, and the People's Republic of China. Their exciting, milestone interpretations of both unknown works and familiar repertoire have un­failingly brought. them wide recognition, as is documented by many prizes. They received the Buxtehude Prize from the town of Lübeck, awards by Siemens and the state of North Rhine-West­phalia and were named ,,Artist of the Year" by the Deutsche Phonoakademie in 1981.

Musica Antiqua Köln has built up a wide dis­cography since signing an exclusive recording con­tract with Deutsche Grammophon's Archiv Pro­duktion in 1978. Among its many releases, the prize-winning recording of Johann David Hei­nichen's Dresden Concerti, Handel's Marian Can­tatas and Arias with Anne Sofie von Otter, works by Johann Adolf Hasse under the title Salve Regi­na, a disc of ,,Tafelmusik" by various composers entitled Pro tabula and the Missa Salisburgensis attributed to Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (together with the Gabrieli Consort & Players under Paul McCreesh) have been particularly successful. More recent releases include J.S. Bach's Wedding Cantatas (with Christine Schäfer), an award-win­ning anthology of French Baroque music forming the soundtrack to the film Le Roi danse, two discs with concertos for strings by Telemann, and Ba­chiana, a collection of instrumental works by the Bach family.