LAURENCE CUMMINGS
Audio links
This Is... the Academy of Ancient Music
AAM plays Avison after Scarlatti - Concerto Grosso No 3 in D minor - 4. Allegro
AAM plays Handel - Oboe Concerto No 3 in G minor HWV287 - 2. Allegro
Academy of Ancient Music (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 nearly 50 years ago 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, AAM Records, and are proud to be the most listened-to period-instrument orchestra online, with over one million monthly listeners on streaming platforms.
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 in collaboration with partners at the Guildhall School, London Music Masters, Cambridgeshire Music Hub and others we reach thousands of children and young people across primary, secondary and tertiary education each year.
AAM is Associate Ensemble at London’s Barbican Centre and the Teatro San Cassiano, Venice, and Orchestra-in-Residence at the University of Cambridge, Milton Abbey International Summer Music Festival and The Apex, Bury St Edmunds. The 2022-23 season is the second for Music Director Laurence Cummings, who joins the orchestra as it approaches its 50th anniversary in 2023.
2023
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, he is Musical Director of Academy of the London Handel Festival, Music Director of Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música in Porto as well as AAM’s current Music Director.
Frequently praised for his stylish performances in the opera house, he has conducted productions across Europe at houses including Opernhaus Zürich and Gothenburg Opera. in the UK he has been a regular guest at English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and Garsington Opera, as well as conducting at Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre and for Opera North.
Equally at home on the concert platform, he is regularly invited to conduct both period and modern orchestras worldwide, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Handel and Haydn Society Boston, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, and in the UK with Hallé Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
His recordings include discs with Emma Kirkby and Royal Academy of Music on BIS, Angelika Kirschlager and the Basel Chamber Orchestra for Sony BMG, Maurice Steger and The English Concert for Harmonia Mundi, as well as a series of live performances for Accent, recorded at the Internationale Händel-Festpiele Göttingen. He has also released numerous solo harpsichord recital and chamber music recordings for Naxos.
Until 2012 he was Head of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music, where he now holds the position of William Crotch Professor of Historical Performance. The 2020-21 season saw his last edition of the Internationale Händel-Festpiele Göttingen, where he was Artistic Director for nine years.
2023
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