Promethean: Academy of Ancient Music announces its 2026/27 season (news post)
... a 12-concert series shaped by daring ideas and artists who pushed beyond the limits of their time
Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) has announced its 2026–27 season, titled Promethean: a 12-concert series shaped by daring ideas and artists who pushed beyond the limits of their time.
The season features major vocal works including Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and Handel’s Brockes-Passion, alongside imaginative collaborations with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and contemporary circus company Circa.
Speaking about the season, Music Director Laurence Cummings comments:
The myth of Prometheus stands for courage in the face of adversity and the quest to galvanise innovation and creativity for the greater good. We have chosen composers that embody that spirit for this season; Monteverdi redefining opera, Handel reimagining the Passion tradition, Wilhelmina Von Bayreuth for proving the creative merits of women at court, Beethoven transforming music itself, and Arvo Pärt forging an entirely new musical language. Thus music reminds us how artistic vision can reimagine the world for the better.”
Vocal landmarks
Large scale vocal works form the backbone of the season. In November, Laurence Cummings conducts Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Barbican Hall in a concert performance featuring Anna Dennis as Poppea and Ed Lyon as Nerone, Katie Bray as Ottavia, Christopher Lowrey as Ottone and Eric Owens as Seneca (17 Nov).
The orchestra returns to the Barbican on Good Friday with Handel’s Brockes-Passion (26 Mar), a work now closely associated with AAM. In 2019, the orchestra presented a landmark 300th anniversary performance of the Brockes-Passion and released a widely acclaimed recording. The project was the culmination of a major scholarly project involving researchers from several leading universities, and helped restore this long neglected masterpiece to the repertoire. This forthcoming performance will once again bring this powerful Passion to life for modern audiences.
International collaborations
The 2026–27 season also features several distinctive collaborations. In May, AAM is joined by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and conductor Tõnu Kaljuste for a programme pairing J. S. Bach with Arvo Pärt (7 & 8 May). Bach’s Cantata BWV4 and the motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied appear alongside Pärt’s Fratres, L’Abbé Agathon and Missa Syllabica.
In June, AAM partners with the internationally acclaimed contemporary circus company Circa for a new performance of Beethoven’s only ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus (24 Jun). Directed by Circa’s Yaron Lifschitz, the production combines Beethoven’s music with striking physical theatre to reimagine the ancient myth of Prometheus for modern audiences.
Inventive programmes
Elsewhere in the season, AAM showcases several inventive programmes, opening with an exploration of the turbulent musical world of the 1760s, including Mozart’s First Symphony, Haydn’s Symphony No. 39 and Telemann’s late cantata Ino (30 Sept and 1 Oct), featuring American soprano Amanda Forsythe, whose recent cpo recording of Ino was awarded Best Classical Solo Vocal Recording at the 2026 Grammy Awards.
The harpsichord is the focus of a special programme led by longtime AAM musician Alastair Ross (2 and 3 Dec). Chamber forces take centre stage in February with Beethoven’s popular Septet paired with Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Piano Septet (10 and 11 Feb). In April, the orchestra travels back to the court of Charles I with a programme of seventeenth century English and Italian instrumental music centred on William Lawes’s The Royall Consort (21 and 22 Apr).
The 2026–27 season runs from 30 September 2026 to 24 June 2027 with concerts in Cambridge and at London’s Barbican Hall and Milton Court. For full details and ticket information visit: www.aam.co.uk
Full concert listing:
Performance Listings
1765: Times of Transition
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No 1 in E-flat major
François-André Danican Philidor Arias from Tom Jones
Joseph Haydn Symphony No 39 in G minor
Georg Philipp Telemann Ino
Academy of Ancient Music
Laurence Cummings director & harpsichord
Amanda Forsythe soprano
Mozart, Haydn, Telemann and Philidor: four composers in a passionate age, reinventing music on the wing. A dynamic start to a season of music that defies convention.
Wednesday 30 September 2026, 7.30pm
West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Thursday 1 October 2026, 7.30pm
Milton Court Concert Hall, London
L’incoronazione di Poppea
Claudio Monteverdi
Academy of Ancient Music
Laurence Cummings director & harpsichord
Anna Dennis Poppea
Ed Lyon Nerone
Katie Bray Ottavia & La Virtu
Christopher Lowrey Ottone
Eric Owens Seneca
Stuart Jackson Arnalta
Maryam Wocial Drusilla
Diana Montague Nutrice
Thomas Walker Lucano & Primo Soldato
Rory Carver Valetto, Secondo Soldato & Coro dei Famigliare
Richard Latham Liberto & Coro dei Famigliare
Danni O’Neill La Fortuna & Damigella
Rob Macdonald Littore & Coro dei Famigliare
Monteverdi’s most sensuous – and scandalous – opera, performed in concert by Laurence Cummings, Academy of Ancient Music and a stellar cast.
Tuesday 17 November 2026, 7.00pm
Barbican Hall, London
The Art of the Harpsichord
Johann Sebastian Bach Harpsichord Concerto in E major
Georg Philipp Telemann Oboe Concerto in D minor
George Frederic Handel Trio Sonata Op 5 No 4
Wilhelmine von Bayreuth Harpsichord Concerto in G minor
Madame Laschanzky Oboe Concerto in B-flat major
Bernardo Pasquini Sonata for Two Harpsichords in D major
Johann Sebastian Bach Concerto for Two Harpsichords in C minor
Academy of Ancient Music
Laurence Cummings director & harpsichord; Alastair Ross harpsichord
Harpsichordist Alastair Ross plays Bach, Handel, Laschanzky and their contemporaries – celebrating an instrument that liberated the baroque imagination.
Wednesday 2 December 2026, 7.30pm
West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Thursday 3 December 2026, 7.30pm
Milton Court Concert Hall, London
Septet: Beethoven & Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel Piano Septet No 1 in D minor, Op 74
Ludwig van Beethoven Septet in E-flat major, Op 20
Academy of Ancient Music
Laurence Cummings director & fortepiano
Academy of Ancient Music plays Septets by Beethoven and Hummel – giants of the Romantic revolution, relaxing among friends.
Wednesday 10 February 2027, 7.30pm
West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Thursday 11 February 2027, 7.30pm
Milton Court Concert Hall, London
Brockes-Passion
George Frideric Handel
Academy of Ancient Music
Laurence Cummings director & harpsichord
On Good Friday, Academy of Ancient Music rediscovers Handel’s Brockes-Passion – the story of the Crucifixion, retold in music that blazes with emotion.
Friday 26 March 2027, 3.00pm
Barbican Hall, London
The Royall Consort
William Lawes Royal Consort in D minor
Samuel Scheidt Paduan Cantus IV, Galliard Battaglia,
Conzon ‘Nachbar Roland’
Thomas Baltzar Prelude & ‘John come kiss me now’
Dario Castello Sonata XIII
Dario Castello Sonata XIV
Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger Toccata for Two Theorbos
Christopher Simpson Ground in G major for Two Bass Viols
William Lawes Royal Consort in D major
John Jenkins Newark Siege
The Royall Consort of King Charles I was at the cutting edge of 17th century music, and today it lives again with Academy of Ancient Music.
Wednesday 21 April 2027, 7.30pm
West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Thursday 22 April 2027, 7.30pm
Milton Court Concert Hall, London
JS Bach / Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt Fratres
Johann Sebastian Bach Cantata BWV 4
Arvo Pärt L’Abbé Agathon
Arvo Pärt Missa Syllabica
Johann Sebastian Bach Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied BWV 225
Academy of Ancient Music
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Tõnu Kaljuste conductor
Mystery, wonder and sounds to refresh the spirit, as Academy of Ancient Music and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir perform timeless testaments to faith.
Friday 7 May 2027, 7.30pm
Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge
Saturday 8 May 2027, 7.30pm
Barbican Hall, London