Apollo’s Fire, orchestra. Photo from Apollo’s Fire.

Apollo’s Fire (a Knight arts grantee) has been in the business of making Baroque music for 23 years now, with 20 of those years featuring performance in the Akron area. Now it’s set to launch another big musical season.

The musical troupe, led by founder and Music Director Jeannette Sorrell, also has managed to gather up not only a large following for a Baroque orchestra – in this country and around the world – but has some awards under its belt. In bringing its brand of playing with period instruments, the group strives, as it rightly notes, to bring the emotional impact of performance as it was originally intended. That attitude has led magazines such as “Gramaphone” and “BBC Magazine” to count Apollo’s Fire performances among the “Top 20 Concerts in North America.”

For the upcoming 2014-2015 season, Apollo’s Fire notes that Sorrell has chosen a lively and varied repertoire while also paying tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach in honor of his 330th birthday.

To do the latter, the orchestra will create a yearlong Bach celebration opening in October with an evening of Bach’s “Orchestral Fireworks.” That concert unveils three great Bach pieces never yet played on the Apollo’s Fire stage, including “Concerto in C minor for Two Harpsichords” (featuring Jeannette Sorrell and Joe Gascho on harpsichord), “Violin Concerto in E Major” (featuring AF concertmaster Olivier Brault), and “Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor for Flute & Strings” (featuring Kathie Stewart on flute).

Jan. 23-25 Apollo’s Fire will put on what it calls a multi-generational tribute to Bach in a concert called “Bach’s Birthday Party, Part II: A Family Frolic,” which will tell the musical story of a day at the Bach family home. As Apollo’s Fire notes, Bach had his hands full with a house overflowing with kids, including a rebellious teenage daughter. This concert will feature the group’s Young Apprentices, including Madeline Healey (soprano) and Cynthia Black (violin), alongside veteran principal players in a staged performance of the “Coffee Cantata.” The concert is part of the orchestra’s Fireside series (which also includes coffee and conversation).

The last Bach tribute will come next spring with an homage to Bach’s most admired colleague, Vivaldi. Apollo’s Fire will present two weekends of “Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’: Rediscovered.” Sorrell has noticed the rock-and-roll qualities of this music – and will lead the group in bringing them out by featuring the dynamic Olivier Brault on violin. Then as a final season tribute to Bach, favorites René Schiffer (cello), Johanna Novom (violin) and Julie Andrijeski (violin) will bring solo musical voices in a Vivaldi piece that Bach transcribed.

Apollo’s Fire will also have its regular subscription series, which will include two of the Bach concerts but other themes as well.

In November, the orchestra will tackle its signature piece “The Monteverdi Vespers of 1610.” This masterpiece of the Baroque era combines the exoticism of the East with the structure of the West. The concert will feature tenors Oliver Mercer and Karim Sulayman and sopranos Molly Quinn and Nell Snaidas alongside the exquisite Apollo’s Singers.

In December, Apollo’s Fire once again reprises its popular holiday double-bill format, offering performances of “Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas Vespers” and Handel’s “Messiah.” “Celtic Christmas” weaves a tapestry of chant, pagan carols and joyous dance and fiddle tunes. Handel’s “Messiah” performs Dec. 11-15 featuring vocalists Meredith Hall (soprano), Amanda Powell (mezzo-soprano), Ross Hauck (tenor) and Jeffrey Strauss (baritone). Sorrell’s acclaimed interpretation takes its cue from Handel’s original conception of the piece as a theatrical entertainment.

Aside from traditional performance concerts, Apollo’s Fire has a few new innovations in the works. For example, the group will include this year a collaboration in February 2015 with the Music Box Supper Club in Cleveland to bring a Valentine’s Day special dinner and concert – “The Blues Café, 1610” on Feb. 12-16. It is described as re-creating a café in Italy or Spain. It features four singers (Nell Snaidas, Oliver Mercer, Karim Sulayman and Jeffrey Strauss), plucked instruments, violins and exotic percussion (Rex Benincasa); musicians “jam” on the popular “blues” bass lines of the Baroque era.

Subscription tickets are on sale now. Four-concert, five-concert, six-concert, and seven-concert subscriptions range from $37 (for students) to $383. Single tickets range from $20-$70 with special rates for students, seniors, and young adults (under 30) and will be available for purchase online beginning Sept. 8. For more information or to request a season brochure, please visit the website at www.apollosfire.org or call Apollo’s Fire at 216-320-0012 or 800-314-2535.