Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

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The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a British period instrument orchestra. Formed in 1986 by a group of players, it does not have a principal conductor, but rather is led artistically by a board of musicians elected by the musicians themselves. The current Principal Artists are Sir Simon Rattle CBE, Vladimir Jurowski and Ivan Fischer. Other conductors to have worked with the OAE at its invitation include Sir Charles Mackerras, Philippe Herreweghe, Gustav Leonhardt, Mark Elder, René Jacobs, Sir Roger Norrington, Harry Bicket, Marin Alsop, Sigiswald Kuijken, Ivor Bolton, Monica Huggett, and Bruno Weil.

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is named after the historical period in the late 18th century from which it takes the core of its repertoire.^[1]

The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, and associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera.

Its seaon at the Southbank Centre includes concerts at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Royal Festival Hall. In May 2006 the OAE started a series of informal late night concerts called "The Night Shift", which has been nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society award for audience development.

The OAE celebrated the 21st anniversary of its founding with a concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 30 June 2007, conducted by Norrington, Elder, Mackerras and Jurowski respectively.

The OAE has toured many countries, including South America and the US in 2002, and toured South East Asia for the first time in autumn 2003. The Orchestra's discography covers over fifty recordings in music from Henry Purcell to Verdi working with guest artists including Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Renee Fleming, Susan Graham, Andreas Scholl, Ian Bostridge, Elizabeth Wallfisch, Emanuel Ax, Thomas Hampson, Cecilia Bartoli, Gerald Finley, Bob van Asperen, Anner Bylsma, Viktoria Mullova, and Michael Chance.

The OAE does a lot of work with schools, especially in the London area and is very active in performing concerts for local schools, leading projects with young people and teaching children to play musical instruments