Although named after an 18th-century antecedent musical institution in London, the Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) remains at the forefront of the historically-informed performance movement. The pioneering force in the English period instrument revival was founded in 1973 by Christopher Hogwood, and caught the public imagination with adventurous programming and revelatory recordings that included a vivacious set of Vivaldi’s L’estro armonico concertos Op. 3 and a 1980 account of Handel’s Messiah that wears its 40-plus years lightly. During the 1980s, the Academy inaugurated complete cycles of the symphonies and piano concertos of Mozart and Beethoven; but, keen to be seen as forward-looking too, AAM also blazed a trail commissioning new works from composers such as John Tavener, David Bedford and Thea Musgrave among others. In its near half-century existence, there have only been three music directors. Succeeding Hogwood in 2006 the ebullient Richard Egarr steered the ensemble for the next 15 years before Laurence Cummings assumed the reins in 2021. With over 300 discs under its belt, the Cambridge-based ensemble’s thirst for discovery remains nonetheless undimmed.