Armonico Consort

Armonico Consort is a multifaceted British group devoted to performing early music in adventurous ways. The Consort encompasses a period-instrument orchestra, a vocal ensemble, and an opera company, performing works from the Renaissance to new productions incorporating older music. Armonico Consort also has a strong educational function through its AC Academy program. The group has a substantial recording catalog, much of it on the Signum Classics label; in 2025, it issued a recording of Francesco Scarlatti's oratorio Il Daniele nel Lago de' Leoni ("Daniel in the Lion's Den"). Armonico Consort (the group does not use the definite article) was founded in 2001 by conductor and organist Christopher Monks, who remains its director. The original members were Monks' university colleagues, and many of them have gone on to forge notable careers as soloists in historical performance ensembles. Education was central to Armonico Consort's mission from the beginning; the AC Academy program for young singers was initiated in 2002, motivated by Monks' dissatisfaction with musical training in British schools. The Consort quickly gained attention with an innovative and well-received production of Purcell's opera The Fairy Queen in 2005 and another of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in 2007; the latter mounted at the Barbican in London. The group made its recording debut on the Deux-Elles label in 2004 with the album Francesco Scarlatti: Dixit Dominus. It recorded several more albums for Deux-Elles (including one of Fairy Queen highlights) before moving to Signum Classics in 2010 and issuing the album Naked Byrd. That album included not only Baroque works but also those by contemporary American composer Morten Lauridsen. Most of the Consort's concerts in its first years were sold out; as of the 2020s, the group performs some 50 concerts annually. Those presentations included not only opera but also other vocal works and instrumental music. Beyond Britain, the Consort has performed at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, in Naples, Italy, and in Tel Aviv. The group's long list of collaborators includes bass-baritone Willard White, soprano Emma Kirkby, and violinist Nicola Benedetti. Armonico Consort also mounts original opera-like productions, including "Too Hot to Handel," "Baroque Around the Block," and "Monteverdi's Flying Circus." These have been performed at such major venues as the Buxton Opera Festival in England, the Llandudno Opera Festival in Wales, and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. The Consort has continued to record almost annually, issuing both conventional programs, such as J.S. Bach: The Complete Soprano Cantatas (2017) and those less so, such as Supersize Polyphony (2019). In 2025, Armonico Consort released an album featuring Francesco Scarlatti's oratorio Il Daniele nel Lago de' Leoni ("Daniel in the Lion's Den"). Choirs from AC Academies have performed at venues including the Royal Albert Hall. ~ James Manheim, Rovi