A string trio with four instruments? A harpsichord hiding behind the cello? The Valencia Baryton Project has dedicated itself to the performance of music written for an ancient and little-known instrument, the baryton. A cross between the viol da gamba and lirone, with 10 resonating and plucked strings down the back of the instrument, the baryton gives the traditional string trio an entirely new dimension.

The Valencia Baryton Project is a collective founded by Valencia-based barytonist Matthew Baker with the vision of performing the nearly 170 works written by Franz Joseph Haydn as well as compositions by other composers, both modern and classical. At the heart of the ensemble is the traditional formation in 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.

With Matthew Baker, one of only a handful baryton performers in the world, the Valencia Baryton Project have delighted audiences in sold-out concerts throughout North, Central and South America as well as Europe with what is considered to have been the pinnacle of aristocratic instruments of the classical era. Their work has been described as ‘beautifully polished’ (Musicalifeiten) and “delightfully inventive” (The Strad). They have been featured in publications and programs such as Berklee Now (USA), Radio Nacional de España, BBC 3 (UK), Die Welt (Germany), and Classic FM (UK) amongst others. The Valencia Baryton Project’s barytonist - Matthew Baker - was also featured in The Strad in March of 2023 in a full-length article about the instrument.

In 2021, the Valencia Baryton Project released Naxos Records’ first ever baryton CD for their own label starting a new series and then continued on with their 2nd CD which was released in 2023. Their recordings have been described as “spiritedly performed and superbly recorded” (Classical Music Daily, UK), “highly recommended” (Stretto, Belgium), “a discovery for curious ears” (OnlineMerker, Switzerland), and “virtuosic” (WDR 3, Germany). The first CD was nominated as one of the finalists for Best Classical CD of the Carles Santos Premios and has also appeared in Gramophone’s top 20 Classical charts in the UK and All Music’s Top Classical CDs of 2021. 

As Haydn was not limited to writing trios, likewise the Valencia Baryton Project has from the beginning been a flexible ensemble, adapting from its standard trio setting to accommodate anything from duo to quintet or even octet to accommodate the numerous works written for the instrument.

Beyond their work with Haydn and his contemporaries such as Lidl, Tomasini and Burgksteiner, the Valencia Baryton Project, is committed to the creation of new works for this forgotten instrument and has worked with Canadian comoposer Steve Zink, British composers Ivan Moody and John Pickup, Spanish composer Jóse Zárate and Argentinian composer Julian Calarco to expand the repertoire and incorporate this new soundscape to modern compositions. They have also collaborated with international artists such as Carrie Krause (violin, USA), Jeremy Brooker (baryton, UK), Chris Hirst (theorbo, UK) and Paloma Friedhoff (soprano, Spain) amongst many others.