Laurence Cummings

Laurence Cummings

Laurence Cummings is one of Britain’s most exciting and versatile exponents of historical performance both as conductor and harpsichord player. He has been Musical Director of the London Handel Festival since 1999 and Artistic Director of the Internationale Handel-Festpiele Göttingen since 2012, as well as acting as Music Director for Orquestra Barroca Casa da Musica Porto. He is the William Crotch Professor of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music.
He has conducted productions for English National Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Buxton Festival Opera, Gothenburg Opera, Opernhaus Zurich, Opera de Lyon, Garsington Opera, English Touring Opera and at the Linbury Theatre Covent Garden. He regularly conducts the English Concert and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and has worked with the Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony, Britten Sinfonia, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society (Boston), St Paul Chamber Orchestra (Minnesota), National Symphony Orchestra (Washington), Kansas City Symphony, Wiener Akademie, Musikcollegium Winterthur, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and Basel Chamber Orchestra.
His numerous recordings include the first recording of Handel’s newly discovered Gloria with Emma Kirkby, and Handel Arias with Angelika Kirschlager and the Basel Chamber Orchestra for Sony BMG.
Highlights of the 2017/18 season include The Rake’s Progress at Wilton’s Music Hall, Saul at Theater an der Wien and Glyndebourne Festival Opera, as well as collaborations with the Huddersfield Choral Society and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, together with his commitments at Casa da Musica in Porto and the London and Göttingen Handel Festivals.