The Academy of Ancient Music to perform for the Queen

On 3 June 2012 a seven-mile flotilla featuring a thousand boats will take to the Thames for as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and on board one of the 'Herald Music Barges' will be the The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) - who will be performing a unique concert featuring Handel’s most glorious works.

It will be the biggest gathering on the Thames for more than 350 years, and for the Academy of Ancient Music the perfect opportunity for the period orchestra to go back in time and perform Handel's work exactly as the composer himself would have originally intended. 

Their choice of the composer's best-known works for the event is particularly fitting. Water Music, was written for a similar royal procession which King George I took along the Thames in 1717, whilst Music for the Royal Fireworks was commissioned in 1749 by King George II for a national celebration in Green Park to mark the end of European war.

Michael Garvey, the AAM's Chief Executive, tells Lucy Howard how the orchestra came to be involved in the Pageant and the challenges of performing on a barge in the middle of the Thames...

Listen to the full interview here