The Academy of London The Academy of London is an orchestra unlike any other in the United Kingdom. It is comprised of some of the finest instrumentalists in Europe, some of them making successful solo careers in their own right. The orchestra has become recognised for a style of playing that combines the virtuosity of American orchestras with a warmth and richness of string playing more usually associated with German and Central European ensembles. Under the leadership of its Viennese-trained Artistic Director, Richard Stamp, the Academy of London has established itself in a diverse repertoire stretching from the baroque period through to the present day. The Academy's reputation has been enhanced by its recordings for EMI Virgin Classics and ASV which have met with wide critical acclaim. The London Season In its London season the orchestra has been a regular visitor to the Barbican Centre, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and St John's Smith Square, performing with a line up of international soloists unsurpassed by any chamber orchestra in Britain. In addition to the many great American and Austrian soloists who have appeared with the orchestra, past soloists include Jack Brymer, Jean-Philippe Collard, José van Dam, Pete Donohoe, Ofra Harnoy, Håkan Hardenberger, Nigel Kennedy, Yehudi Menuhin, Lydia Mordkovitch, Gervase de Peyer, Paul Scofield, Sir John Gielgud, Dimitri Sitkovetsky, Lynne Dawson, Willard White and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. New Music Although the orchestra's string sound is especially suited to the Viennese classical tradition and the great romantic string repertoire, it has given UK premières of several important new compositions, and has itself commissioned significant new works by Stephen Montague (At the White Edge of Phrygia), Donald Erb (Clarinet Concerto), John Tavener (Sappho-Lyrical Fragments), and Michael Berkeley (The Wild Winds). Overseas By the late 1980s the Academy of London had already begun to make an impact abroad with a sixteen city concert tour of Germany under the auspices of the British Council and highly acclaimed appearances in Holland and in France at the Paris Summer Festival, the Carinthischer Sommer in Austria, the Ljubljana and Dubrovnik Festivals in the former Yugoslavia, and the Flanders Festival in Belgium. In the autumn of 1994 the orchestra was the first British chamber orchestra to tour China on an official invitation from the Chinese government, giving a total of six concerts in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, all to enormous acclaim. Principals of the orchestra also gave masterclasses at the music conservatories in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing.