What do blockbuster movies such as Kingdom of Heaven, The Chronicles of Narnia, Pirates of the Caribbean, Flushed Away and The Da Vinci Code have in common? They are all projects that saw the musical contribution of leading British conductor Robert King, widely acclaimed as one of the leading British conductors of his generation. His harpsichord playing can also be heard in the hit film Shrek 2!

Robert King will be performing here at the Manoel Theatre on January 14 as part of the Valletta International Baroque Festival 2013 in Handel’s Heroine.

He will be accompanied by his very own orchestra, one of the world’s most famous period instrument orchestras, The King’s Consort.

With over 95 recordings and 1.5 million cd’s sold, Robert King enjoys a 32 year dynamic career across the globe in an unusually varied range of repertoire. Born in 1960, whilst at Cambridge University in 1980 he founded the period instrument orchestra and choir The King's Consort, with whom he has toured almost every European country, North and South America and the Far East. He made his BBC Proms conducting début in 1991 and has since been invited a further seven times.

Robert King's busy international conducting schedule has seen performances all over the world, including in the US the New World, Seattle, Baltimore, Houston, Oregon, Detroit, Atlanta, National, Minnesota and Pacific Symphony Orchestras, as well as in Canada, Scandinavia, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Hong Kong. Operatic work has included Handel Ottone in Japan and the UK, Handel Ezio in Paris, Purcell The Indian Queen in the UK and Germany, Purcell The Fairy Queen in Spain and Britain and Gluck Armide for Buxton Festival.  

His repertoire, besides especial acclaim for his interpretation of baroque music, also includes a wide spread of classical and early romantic works, with a particular focus on the music of Mozart, Haydn and Mendelssohn, and a continuing specialisation in early twentieth century English composers, in particular the works of Vaughan Williams, Stanford and Parry. King is widely regarded as a leading expert on the music of Henry Purcell. He is a frequent broadcaster for the BBC, writing and presenting diverse programmes.