Young musician Lucie Horsch stopping off at The Apex in Bury St Edmunds for special concert

London’s acclaimed Academy of Ancient Music orchestra have teamed up with Netherlands’ teen sensation Lucie Horsch for a brief UK mini-tour this February, and they’re stopping off at The Apex along the way.

One of only three dates on the tour – The Barbican in London, and the West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge being the other two – 19-year-old Lucie Horsch is the star of the show with her recorder playing.

Signed to the prestigious Decca Classics, Lucie’s second album, Baroque Journey, with the Academy of Ancient Music is scheduled for release just two days before they perform at The Barbican and is a stunning culmination of what has already been a decade in the music industry.

At the tender age of nine, Lucie was broadcast on national television during her canal-side performance in Amsterdam – it led to her becoming an overnight sensation. By the age of 15 she was selected by the Netherlands to represent them at the Eurovision Young Musician contest and the following year, aged just 16, she became the first recorder player to be signed to Decca Classics.

“It was a fantastic experience to play an open-air concert on the canals of my hometown for such a large audience,” said Lucie of her unexpected breakthrough.

“I can still remember that many of my classmates at the time were there and they asked me afterwards to sign their arms with my autograph.

“What I particularly enjoyed about the performance was the many spontaneous things that happened which had not been rehearsed beforehand, for example, the conductor ‘conducting’ the clapping of the audience.

“Since the concert was broadcast live on television, I received many reactions afterwards; even now, it still happens very often that children come up to me and tell me that the video has inspired them in some way.”

The Eurovision Young Musician however was a somewhat different experience, a much grander scale for one so young, the paparazzi were already on to her. “The week before [the Eurovision] was a very turbulent time, it felt like I was constantly being followed by a camera, but I had a really nice time with the other participating musicians from many different European countries.

“I became good friends with a Norwegian violinist who now studies in Berlin! Whenever I am in Berlin or she is in Amsterdam, we try to meet and catch up.”

All part of the learning curve, Lucie has grown up fast and her music has benefited because of it with Baroque Journey adding to her already growing popularity across Europe. Based on the sounds of the famed Venetian Republican, Baroque composer Antonio Lucio Vivaldi – most famous for his Le quarto stagioni (The Four Seasons) of 1723, a depiction of moods and scenes from each of the four seasons – Lucie’s work “offers such a variety of musical styles as the listener is taken on a round trip through Baroque Europe, starting and ending in my home country, the Netherlands,” she explains.

“Many of the recorded pieces I have known for quite some time already and played under many different circumstances, so a lot of personal memories are connected to the music.

“I have been so intensely busy with everything connected to the recording of the album that I think it will take me a while before I can listen to the finished product in a relaxed state.”

Playing alongside harpsichord/director Richard Egarr and the AAM is yet another highlight for the now 19-year-old musician.

The performances will feature pieces from not only Vivaldi, but also that of Johann Sebastian Bach and Giovanni Battista Sammartini, combining the incredible sounds of Lucie’s much-loved Baroque-Europe.

“I am very much looking forward to be working again closely with the fantastic musicians of the AAM,” said Lucie. “It was a great pleasure for me to play with such experienced and knowledgeable musicians and we got to know the repertoire very well during the recording, so now we can be really free in our interpretations.

“As much as I enjoy travelling to different countries and playing in beautiful concert halls, the standout moments for me always are the concerts in which I am most inspired and feel most connected to the audience.

“For example, I once played for Brazilian school children who live in a slum area. They had prepared for my visit a long time in advance

and they were so happy to make music together with me that it was an extremely rewarding experience.”

As Lucie continues her musical studies, and broadening her horizons with a seemingly global educational platform, the future is very much a bright one for this talented musician.

Lucie is appearing at The Apex in Bury St Edmunds on February 25 and West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge the following day.

>> Lucie Horsch, February 25, The Apex, Bury St Edmunds. Call 01284 758000 or visit theapex.co.uk