About Hank Knox
Hailed for his “colourful, kinetic performances,” Hank Knox has performed on harpsichord in concert halls, churches, museums, galleries and homes around the globe. He is a founding member of Montreal’s Arion Baroque Orchestra, and has performed, toured and recorded with numerous ensembles and orchestras. He has released several acclaimed recordings on antique instruments as well as historical copies, including discs devoted to Scarlatti, Bach, Frescobaldi, Geminiani and Handel. As conductor of the McGill Baroque Orchestra, he directed many Baroque operas, including Francesca Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Monteverdi’s Poppea and Handel’s Orlando, Giulio Cesare, and Alcina.
Upcoming Performances
Hank Knox Prize in Early Music
The Schulich School of Music of McGill University established the Hank Knox Prize in Early Music in 2022 in recognition of many years of service as professor of harpsichord, conductor, coach and mentor. This award goes annually to an outstanding student in Early Music. Colleagues produced a video to highlight the person behind the award.
RELEASED MARCH 2024
East is East
East is East is a transcultural collaboration that draws on both ancient and contemporary inspiration from the East and the West. This fourth album from Montreal-based Infusion Baroque (Sallynee Amawat, violin, Alexa Raine-Wright, flute and recorder, Andrea Stewart, ‘cello and Rona Nadler, harpsichord) is a fusion of Western Baroque, Persian and Indian music traditions. Featuring collaborators Amir Amiri, santur Hank Knox, harpsirchord, Thibault Bertin-Maghit, double-bass, Hamin Honari, tombak and daf, Vidita Kanniks,, vocals and Shawn Mativetsky, tabla, the thirteen tracks see Western and Eastern musical traditions find common ground in transcultural music.
RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2023
Les soupers du roy
Released by Arion Orchestre Baroque, under the direction of Mathieu Lussier,
on the ATMA Classique label, Les soupers du roy features works in the French spirit of the “Grand Siècle aux Lumières” by André Cardinal Destouches, François Colin de Blamont, Jean-Philippe Rameau, and François Francœur; the scores used for this recording come from the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles (CMBV), thanks to an exceptional partnership between Arion Orchestre Baroque and the CMBV.”
RELEASED AUGUST 2023
Lovers and Mourners
A collaboration with Dorian Bandy (baroque violin), Elinor Frey (viola da gamba) and Hank Knox (harpsichord), Lovers and Mourners was released in August 2023 by Leaf Music. The programme features variation sets and sonatas from 17th-century Germany by Johann Jakob Walther, Heinrich Biber, Johannes Schenck, Dietrich Becker and Johann Georg Pisendel. As Dorian Bandy says in the notes, “These composers created a body of work that is by turns quirky, beguiling, heartfelt, and brazenly virtuosic. It deserves far wider appreciation than it has so far received.”
RELEASED APRIL 2023
Basta parlare!
An exploration of some of the most extravagant music to come out of Italy at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Basta parlare! was released in April 2023 on the ATMA Classique label. It has been nominated for a 2024 Juno Award.
The album was recorded by the Montreal ensemble, Les Barocudas featuring Marie Nadeau-Tremblay (baroque violin), Nathan Mondry (organ and harpsichord) and Tristan Best viola da gamba), with guests Vincent Lauzer (recorder), Antoine Malette-Chénier (harp), Mathias Soly-Letarte (percussion) and Hank Knox (harpsichord).
Hank Knox acknowledges the support of
