2018 Embassy Festival line-up and more


Hot on the heels of GRAND TOUR Baroque Road Trip (PENTATONE), Simon Murphy's new album follows members of the 18th century's musical JET SET as they do the glittering cultural epicentres of the time, including London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and St Petersburg. Exploring the heady, inspired atmosphere of the early classical period, works include arias by Mozart, Paisiello and Storace, Zelter's Viola Concerto in E Flat (with Murphy in the double role of conductor and soloist), and symphonies by Abel and Reichardt. 

The album was made possible by a successful crowdfunding campaign (on Kickstarter). Thank you to all of those who made this possible and supported the campaign.

Grammy award-winning sound-engineer Jean-Marie Geijsen and producer Karel Bruggeman (Polyhymnia) headed up the recording team for the May 2017 sessions in the historic Gothic Hall, Council of State in The Hague. JET SET will be Murphy and the NDA's 7th commercial album. 

The album is currently in post-production at the studios of Polyhymnia International in Baarn, The Netherlands and has had its first edit. You can get an insider's look into the post-production process and listen to an excerpt of the first edit here. 

Video and photo shoots have also been completed and are also in post-production. 
Stay tuned for album release schedule and more! 


Amongst the many positive, international media responses to the new album, Limelight Magazine has given GRAND TOUR Baroque Road Trip (PENTATONE) a stunning 5 star review. 

"Australian founder and Artistic Director of the New Dutch Academy Simon Murphy has a talent for invigorating the repertoire with energy and conviction. On this new release, he takes listeners on an opulent Baroque roadtrip through 18th-century Europe. A sign of the times, Grand Tour was successfully crowdfunded online in late-2016, connecting the NDA with its audience beyond the concert hall.

Murphy appears as soloist in Telemann’s cheerful Viola Concerto in G and joins violist Annegret Meder on the Bach. The disc highlights a new generation, too, including recorder virtuoso Elisabeth Champollion in Vivaldi’s wonderful Sopranino Recorder Concerto and violinists Rachael Beesley and Sonoko Asabuki with cellist Aleksandra Renska in Wassenaer’s Concerto Armonico. Karl Nyhlin performs Vivaldi’s Lute Concerto on the instrument for which it was written, the gallichon (also known as a mandora) – this is, surprisingly, the first such recording. The tour opens and closes on a high note with Handel arias from Myrsini Margariti.

These are vibrant performances, recorded, appropriately, in the immersive acoustics of the Gothic Hall of the Council of the State in The Hague. ... An excellent introduction to the era, Murphy highlights the technical intricacies of the Baroque and the pure joy of the music."

Check out the full, 5 star review here. 


"Thrilling ... an unforgettable musical journey ... infectious energy ... outstanding playing" are just some of the responses from the international music press to Simon Murphy and The New Dutch Academy's new album GRAND TOUR Baroque Road Trip. Featuring music by Bach, Handel, Telemann, Vivaldi & Van Wassenaer, the album is Murphy and the NDA's 6th release on Dutch, quality label PENTATONE. 

The Album Launch at The Concertgebouw Amsterdam on 3 September 2017 was an all-round success! 

Check out the album teaser here
Check out the Making Of here
Buy the album on PENTATONE  

Big thanks to all who have contributed to the successful crowdfunding campaign for this recording project! Check out the album info here and the B2B tour info here. 

Other news: 

The new newsletter is out! Spring 2018