Academy of Ancient Music
Associate Ensemble
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, AAM brings music vividly to life in committed, vibrant performances under the new and dynamic leadership of Laurence Cummings.
Events
Academy of Ancient Music – Transatlantic: Classical Masters
AAM rediscovers the glorious music of Brazilian composer José Maurício Nunes Garcia – in the company of his heroes Mozart and Haydn.
Academy of Ancient Music: Bach's St John Passion
Laurence Cummings and AAM bring an Easter tradition to life: a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St John Passion.
Academy of Ancient Music: Beethoven's Symphony No 5
Struggles, seduction and sparkling wit: Laurence Cummings and AAM play Beethoven, Haydn and Maria Theresia Ahlefeldt.
Academy of Ancient Music: Italian Legacies
Swinging London meets Italian flair, 18th century style. AAM presents Georgian England in the company of Arne, Boyce, Geminiani and Bach. But not the Bach you’re expecting…
Academy of Ancient Music: Handel's Messiah
Laurence Cummings and AAM join a truly world-class team of soloists for a seasonal performance of Handel’s Messiah.
Academy of Ancient Music: Viennese Virtuosity
Musical metamorphoses: Mozart, Haydn and their colleagues come together as AAM celebrates a friendship that transformed music for ever.
Academy of Ancient Music: Actéon and Pygmalion
Charpentier’s Actéon and Rameau’s Pygmalion: two mythological mini-masterpieces of baroque opera, in an exuberant concert performance.
Academy of Ancient Music: Handel's Orlando
Passion, magic and spectacular singing: Iestyn Davies stars alongside Handel expert Laurence Cummings and Academy of Ancient Music in a concert performance of Handel’s epic fantasy opera Orlando.
Academy of Ancient Music: Sons of England
Countertenor Reginald Mobley and AAM explore a different vision of the English baroque: in which the music of Purcell, Handel and Ignatius Sancho redefined the culture of a nation.
Academy of Ancient Music: Le Roi Soleil
The Sun King dances: Academy of Ancient Music and baroque dance experts Mary Collins and Steve Player recreate the sounds and sights of the court of Louis XIV of France.
Academy of Ancient Music: Bach's St Matthew Passion
On Good Friday, AAM returns to a masterpiece that never grows old: Bach’s St Matthew Passion, stripped back to its essentials and performed with absolute commitment.
Academy of Ancient Music: The Art of the Italian Concerto
AAM takes us on a return trip to baroque Italy, in this celebration of the Italian concerto in all its wildly entertaining forms – from Vivaldi’s Venice to the splendour of Rome.
Academy of Ancient Music: Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos
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All six of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos in one gloriously life-affirming concert from Laurence Cummings and the Academy of Ancient Music.
Academy of Ancient Music: Music for an Empress
The Academy of Ancient Music travels to the Vienna of Empress Maria Theresa – where genius paid court, and music flourished in magnificent (and unexpected) new ways.
Academy of Ancient Music: Music for the Royal Fireworks
Let's party like it’s 1749! Music of pure celebration as Laurence Cummings and the Academy of Ancient Music ignite their 50th anniversary season with Handel’s Fireworks Music and Water Music.
Academy of Ancient Music: Beethoven's Symphony No 6
Thunderstorms, sea-spray, nightingales and country dances. Laurence Cummings and the Academy of Ancient Music join Mendelssohn and Beethoven to celebrate the beauties of nature, Romantic style.
Academy of Ancient Music: Il Trionfo del Tempo
The Triumph of Time and Disillusionment: Laurence Cummings rediscovers the eternal truths (and very real delights) of Handel’s spectacular Italian oratorio.
Academy of Ancient Music: Scherzi musicali
Expect the unexpected, as Academy of Ancient Music opens the Baroque era’s musical jokebook for an evening of novelties, parodies and flights of fancy by Biber, Schmelzer and their contemporaries.
Academy of Ancient Music: Hail! Bright Cecilia
‘Tis nature’s voice! The Academy of Ancient Music take Henry Purcell’s Ode to Saint Cecilia as the starting point for a musical journey through the whole of creation.
Academy of Ancient Music: The Musical Offering
The Musical Offering: music written by a giant for a king, explored and performed by Laurence Cummings and the Academy of Ancient Music.
Academy of Ancient Music: Handel's Messiah
Laurence Cummings and the Academy of Ancient Music join a truly world-class team of soloists for a seasonal performance of Handel’s Messiah.
Academy of Ancient Music – ‘Tis nature’s voice: Les Élémens
Cuckoos, nightingales, flood tides and a big bang, as Laurence Cummings conducts the Academy of Ancient Music in a virtuosic celebration of nature and music – baroque style.
Academy of Ancient Music: Haydn's The Seasons
Haydn’s life-affirming oratorio of nature, humanity and the eternal cycle of the year – conducted by AAM Music Director Laurence Cummings and brought vividly to life with striking new visuals.
Discover
Listen: Barbican Essentials - Handel
Our selection of the best of Handel's music.
Composer Focus – Episode 1: George Frideric Handel with Iestyn Davies
Ed Seckerson is joined by countertenor Iestyn Davies to discuss George Frideric Handel, the German-born composer whose prolific portfolio of operas and hits such as the Water Music, and Messiah, won the hearts of the British public.
