René Jacobs is a highly regarded Belgian conductor who began his career as an acclaimed countertenor with many recordings of Baroque music and the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. He also made many albums as conductor of Bach compositions including his 'Mass in B Minor' and 'Secular Cantatas'. He conducts in the major concert halls around the world and served as artistic director of opera programmes at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music from 1991 to 2009.
His album 'George Fredrick Handel: Agrippina' reached number 34 on Billboard's Classical Albums Chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Opera Recording in 2012. He won the award in 2004 for 'Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro', which was also nominated as Best Classical Album. His first nomination for the opera prize was for 'Handel: Giulio Cesare' in 1992 followed in 2004 by 'Scarlatti, A: Griselda' and in 2006 for 'Mozart: La Clemenza Di Tito', which was also nominated as Best Classical Album. 'Scarlatti: Il Primo Omicidio' (1999) and 'Monteverdi: Madrigali Guerrieri Ed Amorosi' (2003) were nominated for Best Small Ensemble Performance With Or Without a Conductor, 'Arias for Farinelli (Porpora, Hasse, Broschi, Etc.)' was nominated for Best Classical Vocal Performance and 'Haydn: The Creation' (2010) and 'Bach: Matthäus-Passion' were nominated for Best Choral Performance.
