LAURENCE CUMMINGS
AAM is an orchestra with a worldwide reputation for excellence in baroque and classical music. Using historically informed techniques, period-specific instruments and original sources, we bring music vividly to life in committed, vibrant performances.
Established more than 50 years ago by Christopher Hogwood to make the first British recordings of orchestral works using original instruments, AAM has released more than 300 albums to date, collecting countless accolades including Classic BRIT, Gramophone and Edison awards. We now record on our own label and are proud to be the most listened-to period-instrument orchestra online, with over one million monthly listeners on streaming platforms. AAM recently celebrated the orchestra’s Golden Anniversary with the completion of a landmark project to record Mozart’s complete works for keyboard and orchestra, a series described by the Financial Times as having ‘set new standards’.
Beyond the concert hall, AAM is committed to nurturing the next generation of musicians and music-lovers through our innovative side-by-side learning and participation initiative, AAMplify. Working with music colleges and universities across the UK, we engage the next generation of period instrumentalists with side-by-side sessions, masterclasses and other opportunities designed to bridge the gap between the conservatoire and the profession, safeguarding the future of historical performance.
AAM proudly holds the position of Associate Ensemble at London’s Barbican Centre and the Teatro San Cassiano, Venice, and Orchestra-in-Residence at the University of Cambridge and The Apex, Bury St Edmunds.
2024/2025
LAURENCE CUMMINGS
Conductor & harpsichord
Laurence Cummings is one of Britain's most exciting and versatile exponents of historical performance both as a conductor and a harpsichord player. A noted authority on Handel, the Guardian has written of him “he now ranks as one of the composer’s best advocates in the world. Self-effacing on the podium, faithful above all to the score, he matches Handel’s energy and invention with unmistakable lyricism, generosity and dignity.”
He is Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music and Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música in Porto and has previously held positions as Artistic Director of the Internationale Händel-Festpiele Göttingen (2011 – 2021) and Musical Director of the London Handel Festival (1999 – 2024).
Frequently praised for his stylish and compelling performances in the opera house, his career has taken him across Europe, conducting new productions at houses including Royal Ballet and Opera Covent Garden (Jephtha, Bernice), Opernhaus Zurich (Belshazzar, King Arthur), Oper Frankfurt (Hercules), Dutch National Opera (Idomeneo), Theater an der Wien (Saul), Gothenburg Opera (Orfeo ed Euridice, Giulio Cesare, Alcina and Idomeneo), Theater Basel (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), Halle Handel Festival (Agrippina), Théâtre du Châtelet Paris (Saul) and Opera de Lyon (Messiah). He has worked with directors including Barrie Koskie, David McVicar, Christoph Marthaler, Deborah Warner, Adele Thomas, Claus Guth, Oliver Mears, Sebastian Baumgarten, John Caird, Graham Vick and Peter Sellars. In the UK he has appeared regularly for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, English National Opera, Garsington Opera and Opera North.
Equally at home on the concert platform, he is regularly invited to conduct both period and modern instrument orchestras worldwide. In recent seasons this has included Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Netherlands Bach Society, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Tonnkunstler Orchester Graffeneg, Music of the Baroque Chicago, St Paul Chamber Orchestra Minneapolis, St Louis Symphony, and Handel and Haydn Society Boston.
His recordings include orchestral discs on BIS, Sony BMG, Harmonia Mundi and Chandos, as well as a series of live opera and concert performances recorded at the Göttingen International Handel Festival and released on Accent.
In addition to his commitments with Academy of Ancient Musica and Orquestra Barocca Casa da Musica, highlights for 25/26 include productions of Guilio Cesare for Oper Frankfurt and Il ritorno d’Ulisse for Garsington Opera as well as appearances with Manchester Camerata, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra.
2025/2026
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