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 Händel-Festpiele Göttingen since 2012. He is also Music Director of the Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música in Porto and the William Crotch Professor of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music.
He has conducted productions for Opernhaus Zurich, Theater an der Wien, Opera de Lyon, Göteborg Opera, the Handel and Haydn Society, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, English National Opera, Opera North, Garsington Opera, the Linbury Theatre Covent Garden, English Touring Opera, Juilliard School, and Opera Theatre Company.
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, Royal Academy of Music Baroque Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Wiener Akademie, National Symphony Orchestra (Washington), Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Musikkcollegium Winterthur, and Moscow 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 Song BMG.
Highlights of the 2018/19 season include Berenice at the Royal Opera House Linbury Theatre in collaboration with the London Handel Festival, Semele at the Royal Academy Opera, Monteverdi Vespers at Garsington Opera, and appearances with The English Concert, the Ulster Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
