'I've seldom seen children as enchanted with The Magic Flute as they were here'- The Independent
Armonico Consort performs more than 50 concerts each year. Initially specialising in Baroque and Renaissance music, it has gained a reputation for staging innovative
and imaginative programmes using movement and lighting for dramatic effect. It has appeared at major festivals across the UK and with internationally-acclaimed musicians. Recent reviews for concerts and recordings include five stars in The Times and The Independent. Future performances include Supersize Polyphony in Warwick and Malvern, Bach and Scarlatti with Nicola Benedetti, Rachmaninov Vespers and plans to tour in the USA and Europe.
*500 performers from Armonico Consort and AC Academy at the RSC in July 2011
'The orchestra produced wondrous sounds' - The Independent
Although it has performed large operas such as The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, Armonico Consort Opera has recently made a name for itself in developing
new and exciting operas from old music. Monteverdi’s Flying Circus, a collaboration with Kit Hesketh Harvey, has been extremely well received at venues across the UK and Armonico Consort Opera is soon to embark on new venture, Too Hot to Handel, with acclaimed counter-tenor, William Towers. Opera for Armonico Consort never just includes music and drama. Puppetry, circus, film, acrobatics and comedy have all been essential ingredients in Armonico Consort Opera productions. Too Hot to Handel will tell a love story through some of Handel’s most beautiful operatic arias.
Armonico Consort has made the provision of free, first-class music education one of the cornerstones of its existence and now offers ‘Musical in a day’ education
workshops to thousands of school-children each year. Its AC Academy children’s choirs see more than 700 children participate each week, with repertoire covering the whole range of musical genres. AC Academy will bring 400 children together to perform Carmina Burana with Armonico Consort at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. In 2012, AC Academies from across the UK will join together for a massed gala performance at the Royal Albert Hall.
* (Photo courtesy of Great Britain Online)
'This recording of endless joy' - Gramophone Magazine (Naked Byrd Two)
Armonico Consort is grateful to many funders for making these ventures possible. Arts Council England, Warwick District Council, Warwick Town Council and Youth
Music are just some of the statutory funders who give us money. However, we would not be able to provide free musical education to so many children, or perform to the very highest standards, without the generous support of many charitable trusts, businesses and private individuals, and we are grateful to all of them. More information about how to support Armonico Consort can be found here.