About | Bourbon Baroque

Our Mission

Bourbon Baroque performs the music of the 17th and 18th centuries for the promotion of public interest in the arts, culture, and lifestyle of the Baroque through collaboration and strategic partnerships.

Executive Director

John Austin Clark, Keyboards

Louisville native John Austin Clark co-founded Bourbon Baroque with the late violinist Nicolas Fortin. Mr. Clark operates a private piano studio, is an active accompanist and vocal coach, directs musical theatre and opera, and performs regularly with various ensembles and equity theatre houses such as Actors Theatre of Louisville among others.

He is the recipient of the 2017 Young Alumni Achievement Award from his alma mater Louisville Collegiate School in Louisville, Kentucky and a recipient of a Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts Toyota Alumni Grant that he used to apprentice with harpsichord builder Yves Beaupré of Montréal, QC in August 2017. He performs on a variety of keyboard instruments and owns a 2017 Beaupré Italian harpsichord. He can be heard on the Naxos/Centaur label.

M.Mus. McGill University
B.Mus. Oberlin Conservatory

Artistic Director

Alice Culin-Ellison, Violin

Co-Artistic Director Alice Culin-Ellison, is a versatile historical performer with training in over 400 years of repertoire. As concertmaster, Alice has led productions of Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Purcell’s King Arthur, and soloed with various ensembles. Other professional engagements include the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Chatham Baroque, Apollo’s Fire, and Les Délices.

Also passionate about education and scholarship, her current research focuses on 19th century American chamber music and she has lectured and given masterclasses on Historical Performance. Alice recently co-founded Incantare, an ensemble of violins and sackbuts, specializing in lesser-known repertoire from the late 16th to 17th centuries.

D.M.A. Case Western Reserve University

M. Mus. Indiana University

B. Mus. University of Michigan

Co-Founder

Nicolas Fortin, Violin

Alma, Quebec-born Nicolas Fortin, baroque violin, co-founded Bourbon Baroque in the Summer of 2007 with John Austin Clark, harpsichord. He served as Production Manager of the Montreal Baroque Festival under the guidance and companionship of violist da gamba, Susie Napper. In 2013 following his residency in Louisville, Kentucky as a part-time lecturer of French at both Indiana University Southeast and University of Louisville, he became the General Director of the Montreal Baroque Festival.

Nico left an indelible energy and passion for music and the French language throughout his career. In 2016, a scholarship in his memory was established to benefit future generations of Baroque specialists.