Conductor, 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 Musica in Porto, Portugal. 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.’

Frequently praised for his stylish and compelling performances in the opera house, his career has taken him across Europe where he has conducted productions at houses including Opernhaus Zürich (Belshazzar, King Arthur), Theater an der Wien (Saul), Gothenburg Opera (Orfeo ed Euridice, Giulio Cesare, Alcina and ldomeneo), Théàtre du Chàtelet (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 and Orfeo), Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Saul, Giulio Cesare and The Fairy Queen) as well as conducting at Opera North and the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre. The 2020/21 season saw his last edition of the lnternationale Handel Festspiele Göttingen, where he was Artistic Director for nine years.

Equally at home on the concert platform, Laurence 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 Zürich, Juilliard 415, Zürich Chamber Orchestra, Musikcollegium Winterthur, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Washington National Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony and the Jerusalem Symphony, among others.

His recordings include albums with Emma Kirkby and the 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 and Ruby Hughes and the OAE on Chandos, as well as a series of live opera and concert performances recorded at the Göttingen lnternational Handel Festival and released on Accent. Laurence has also released numerous solo harpsichord recital and chamber music recordings for Naxos.

Laurence 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, where he has now been named the William Crotch Professor of Historical Performance.