The Academy of Ancient Music 
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“RARELY HAS THE ANCIENT SEEMED SO INTRINSIC TO THE NOW”
--Louisville Courier-Journal , February 2008

The Academy of Ancient Music is one of the world's great orchestras; a household name renowned across the globe for the freshness and vitality of its musicianship. Concerts across six continents and over 250 recordings since its formation by Christopher Hogwood in 1973 demonstrate the AAM's pre-eminence in music of the baroque and classical periods.

The AAM specialises in performing on instruments dating from the time when the music was composed. Under Hogwood's visionary leadership, it established itself as a leading authority on how music was originally performed: this pioneering work had a transformative impact on the world of classical music, and lies at the heart of the AAM's reputation for musical excellence.

In 2006, Hogwood assumed the title of Emeritus Director and passed leadership of the AAM on to the brilliant young keyboard player Richard Egarr. The vibrancy of Egarr's performances with the orchestra has left concertgoers around the world on the edges of their seats. USA National Public Radio christened him “the Bernstein of early music”, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote “with Richard Egarr's brilliance as its Music Director, this orchestra is playing better than ever”. Egarr's first recording as AAM Music Director was awarded the coveted Gramophone Award for baroque instrumental music; his second soared to number 1 in Amazon.com's “Movers and Shakers in Music” chart.

Concerts with Egarr in 2008–09 see the orchestra performing on four continents. Highlights include Haydn concertos with cellist Pieter Wispelwey in the UK and Europe and JS Bach's complete Brandenburg Concertos at New York's Carnegie Hall and in 13 other cities around North America. Performances with Egarr and the Choir of the AAM include recently-discovered works by Christopher Gibbons and Handel's Messiah in Beijing, Halle and Istanbul.

The vitality of the AAM's music making continues to be fostered by a range of guest directors. Hogwood — now Emeritus Director — marks the 250th anniversary of Handel's death with Arianna in Creta , the culmination of a series of annual Handel opera performances. Conductor Paul Goodwin and violinist-director Pavlo Beznosiuk both lead European tours, AAM wind players perform their own programme of Mozart serenades, and the orchestra continues to work with Stephen Layton and Polyphony and with Stephen Cleobury and the choir of King's College, Cambridge.

The AAM's pioneering recordings under Hogwood for Decca's L'Oiseau-Lyre label cover much of the baroque and classical orchestral canon. They include the first recordings on period instruments of Mozart's complete symphonies and Beethoven's piano concertos, and prize-winning opera recordings starring Cecilia Bartoli, Emma Kirkby and Joan Sutherland. Further projects have resulted in recordings for EMI, Chandos, Erato and Harmonia Mundi, and the orchestra has released award-winning recordings with the choirs of King's College, Cambridge and New College, Oxford.

With Richard Egarr, the orchestra is currently in the process of releasing a new cycle of Handel's instrumental music published as Op.1–7. Other forthcoming recordings include Handel's Dettingen Te Deum with Stephen Layton and the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, and JS Bach's complete Brandenburg Concertos, again under Egarr.

The AAM is Orchestra-in-Residence at the University of Cambridge.

 

December, 2008 – please discard any previously dated material.

Richard Egarr , director and harpsichord

“When I heard that England's Academy of Ancient Music had hired keyboardist and conductor Richard Egarr, I was absolutely delighted… I've been waiting for a conductor like Egarr to come along for some time… he's one of the most exciting and delightful musicians of our time.”
--National Public Radio's “All Things Considered”, March 2008

Richard Egarr, acclaimed Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music, is one of the most versatile musicians performing today. He has worked with all types of keyboards and performed repertoire ranging from fifteenth-century organ intabulations through Dussek and Chopin on early piano to Berg and Maxwell Davies on modern piano. He is in great demand as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor.

Egarr enjoyed his musical training as a choirboy at York Minster, at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, and as organ scholar at Clare College, Cambridge. His study with Gustav Leonhardt further inspired his work in the field of historical performance.

As a conductor, Egarr has directed a wide range of repertoire, from Bach's St. Matthew Passion to John Taverner's Ikon of Light. Richard has directed many oratorios and operas, including Handel's Esther, Acis & Galatea, Alcina and L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato and Messiah, Haydn's The Creation, Purcell's The Fairy Queen and Dido & Aeneas, Telemann's St Matthew Passion and Mozart's Don Giovanni and JS Bach's Mass in B minor and St Matthew Passion. In addition to his busy performing schedule with the Academy of Ancient Music, he worked last season with Tafelmusik Toronto, Portland Baroque, the Flemish Radio Orchestra, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. This season Egarr collaborates with the Residentie Orchestra, The Hague, the Brabant Orchestra, the Flemish Radio Orchestra and Choir, Collegium Vocale Ghent and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.

Richard Egarr has given many solo performances throughout Europe and Japan. As orchestral soloist he has appeared with AAM, the English Concert, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Orchestra of the 18th Century, the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra, and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble.

In chamber music, Richard forms an ‘unequalled duo for violin and keyboard' (Gramophone Magazine) with violinist Andrew Manze, performing music from the Stylus Phantasticus to Mozart and Schubert. They have toured extensively throughout Europe, North America and the Far East.

Richard Egarr records exclusively for Harmonia Mundi USA. His solo output comprises works by Frescobaldi, Gibbons, Couperin, Purcell, Froberger, Mozart and J.S. Bach. He has an impressive list of award winning recordings with violinist Andrew Manze, including sonatas by Bach, Biber, Rebel, Pandolfi, Corelli, Handel, Mozart and Schubert. With the Academy of Ancient Music he has recorded the complete Bach harpsichord concertos and an entire set of Handel discs including the Concerti Grossi Op.3, the Organ Concertos Op.4 and 7 and his Sonatas Op.1 and 5.

June, 2008 – please discard any previously dated material.