Martin Pearlman is the founder, music director, and conductor of both the period instruments orchestra and professional chamber chorus that make up the Boston Baroque ensemble. Mr. Pearlman has received critical acclaim for over twenty-five years in orchestral, choral, and operatic repertoire from Monteverdi to Beethoven. Highlights of his work in opera include Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea (for which he created a new performing edition), Rameau's Zoroastre, and a series of Mozart operas including Il re pastore, Abduction from the Seraglio, The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, and Don Giovanni (which was broadcast nationally on public radio). Mr. Pearlman's completion and orchestration of music from Mozart's Lo Sposo Deluso and his performing version of Purcell's Comical History of Don Quixote were both premiered by Boston Baroque.

In addition to his work with Baroque instruments, Mr. Pearlman also conducts modern orchestras and choruses, his most recent Messiah performances being with the Minnesota Orchestra. He is also active as a composer. Following a concert of his recent works, The Boston Globe commented, "If fans of (Boston Baroque) wonder why Pearlman's conducting is so insightful, it's because he knows, as only a composer can, how music goes."