Florian Heyerick

Conductor Florian Heyerick is best known for his incisive interpretations of Baroque and Classical music, and for his work with the vocal/instrumental ensemble he founded, Ex Tempore. Early in his career Heyerick taught choral conducting at the Royal Conservatory in Ghent, but gradually developed his career as a conductor, first in the choral realm, then in orchestral music. Heyerick's repertory reaches back to about 1600, but focuses heavily on works by composers active around a century or so later, particularly Telemann and J.S. Bach. Mozart also figures strongly in his concert programs. But Heyerick, especially when he is leading Ex Tempore, conducts a significant number of works from the Romantic and post-Romantic periods, as well as music from the 20th century. That said, most of his recordings with Ex Tempore feature Baroque repertory, much of it rarely heard fare, including works by Johann Ludwig Bach, Carl Graun, and the least played of the three Scarlattis, Francesco. Heyerick has recorded for several labels, including Etcetera, Carus, and Archiv Produktion. Florian Heyerick was born in Belgium on August 31, 1958. He studied flute and recorder early on and eventually earned a degree at Ghent University in musicology. While teaching choral conducting at the Ghent Royal Conservatory, he also conducted as a freelancer. In 1989 he founded Ex Tempore, a chamber-sized ensemble that could expand for Romantic or modern repertory, but for most concerts consisted of about 20 vocalists and 10 instrumentalists. In the 1990s Heyerick remained active conducting other ensembles, but one of his greatest early successes was his internationally acclaimed 1994 recording of Telemann's cantata Der Tod Jesu, with Ex Tempore, on the Etcetera label. In 1995 Heyerick led the ensemble in music by Telemann at the International Festival of Ancient Music in Bruges, where once again he scored a critical triumph. Heyerick also began appearing regularly with the popular early music ensemble Musica Antiqua Köln. By the turn of the century Heyerick had become a major figure on the podium in the early music realm. In 2003 he led Ex Tempore in a series of acclaimed joint concerts with Musica Antiqua Köln at the La Chaise Dieu music festival in France. While he had already led many concerts involving music from the 19th and 20th centuries, Heyerick drew international notice with his 2007 Etcetera recording of the Heinrich von Herzogenberg Die Passion, a forgotten but ravishingly beautiful oratorio from 1896.
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