Laurence Cummings

Laurence Cummings is one of Britain's most exciting and versatile exponents of historical performance both as a conductor and a harpsichord player. He is currently Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music, Musical Director of the London Handel Festival and Music Director of Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música in Porto. He was Artistic Director of the Internationale Händel-Festpiele Göttingen from 2011 - 2021. 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 makes his Music of the Baroque debut with The Elements on October 27 and 28.

Frequently praised for his stylish and compelling performances in the opera house, Laurence Cummings' career has taken him across Europe where he has conducted productions at houses including Opernhaus Zurich (Belshazzar, King Arthur), Theater an der Wien (Saul), Gothenburg Opera (Orfeo ed Euridice, Giulio Cesare, Alcina, and Idomeneo), Théâtre du Châtelet (Saul), and Opera de Lyon (Messiah). In the UK he has been a regular at English National Opera (Radamisto, L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Semele, Messiah, Orfeo, and The Indian Queen), Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Saul, Giulio Cesare and The Fairy Queen), and Garsington Opera (Vivaldi cycle: L’Incoronazione di Dario, L’Olympiade,  La Verita in Cimento, and Orfeo, as well as conducting at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre (Berenice and Alceste), Opera North (L’Incoronazione di Poppea and Orfeo in a version for both western and Indian classical musicians), and for Opera GlassWorks (The Rake’s Progress).

Equally at home on the concert platform, Laurence Cummings is regularly invited to conduct both period and modern instrument orchestras worldwide, including Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The English Concert, Handel and Haydn Society Boston, Croatian Baroque Orchestra, La Scintilla Zurich, Juilliard415, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Musikcollegium Winterthur, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Washington National Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony, and in the UK with Royal Northern Sinfonia, Hallé Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Laurence Cummings' 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, Ruby Hughes and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on Chandos, as well as a series of live opera and concert performances recorded at the Göttingen International Handel Festival released on Accent. He has also released numerous solo harpsichord recital and chamber music recordings for Naxos.

Future seasons include productions for Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Theater Basel, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and at Dutch National Opera.

Laurence Cummings was an organ scholar at Christ Church Oxford where he graduated with first class honours. Until 2012 he was Head of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music which led to both Baroque and Classical orchestras forming part of the established curriculum. He is now the William Crotch Professor of Historical Performance.