Photo credit: Victoria Cadisch

Bridget Cunningham

MMus ARCM ALCM BA (Hons)

Bridget Cunningham is an award-winning harpsichordist and dynamic conductor who trained and won a fellowship at the Royal College of Music, London before undertaking her doctoral studies with a stipend through Oxford, Open and Cambridge Universities.

She is available for bookings for work to direct baroque projects, perform solo harpsichord and lecture recitals and can also provide innovative programmes with her own ensemble, London Early Opera. (See contact information).

As Artistic Director of London Early Opera, Cunningham has researched, edited and created new, pioneering scores and parts and a series of eight Handel recordings, both solo harpsichord and orchestral with SignumClassics. These have been released worldwide and include the world premiere of Caio Fabbricio HWV A9, Handel at Vauxhall and Handel’s Queens, shortlisted for a Gramophone Award nomination 2020.

Her solo harpsichord performances include playing for the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace, Maison Hine Cognac, Château de Hautefort, the Foundling Museum, Oxford and Cambridge Club, the London Handel Festival and the Victoria International Festival, Gozo for the Prime Minister of Malta. She collaborates with baroque dancers and gives lecture recitals and concerts at international art galleries and opened the Watteau exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. She has released two important solo harpsichord albums, Handel’s Eight Great Harpsichord Suites and Handel in Ireland Volume 1 and has recently released the complete harpsichord works of the Irish baroque composer, Thomas Roseingrave.

She has edited and directed London Early Opera’s world premiere of Handel’s Caio Fabbricio HWV A9 and a BBC commission celebrating the 300th Anniversary of Handel's Water Music, broadcast live on BBC Radio 4 on the River Thames. She has written many articles including a chapter in the book, Essays in Honor of Christopher Hogwood and has edited and revived hundreds of baroque arias and bought them back to life for our modern audiences. 

She enjoys teaching young musicians from The Handelians emerging artists scheme and has performed at prestigious venues across the world including the Teatro Petruzzelli Bari, Italy, Yale University USA, Britten Theatre, St John's Smith Square, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Festi Classique France, Cork Early Music Festival and  Innsbruck Festival Austria. Radio and TV broadcasts include BBC 2 Messiah, BBC 4 Vivaldi's Women, BBC Radio 3 In Tune, BBC Radio 4 Front Row and SkyArts.

“Bridget Cunningham directs Caio Fabbricio brilliantly, leading from the harpsichord to energise the other players, and to give them space to exploit juicy passages. The singers’ virtuosity and rich characterisations are delightful…

Caio Fabbricio contains much fine music and compels fresh admiration of Handel’s orchestral skills. Execution of this project is uniformly excellent”

BBC Music Magazine, June 2022

 “Handel has never sounded better” ★★★★★ 5 Stars

BBC Music Magazine

Prizes & Awards

Tankard Harpsichord Intercollegiate Competition First Prize

Lofthouse Harpsichord and Clavichord Prize

Ruth Dyson Harpsichord and Harpsichord Continuo Prize

Royal Philharmonic Society Enterprise Award

Open, Oxford and Cambridge University Doctoral Stipend

Finzi Trust Scholarship

Worshipful Company of Musicians Award for Fellowship at the Royal College of Music

Concordia Foundation Artist

Handel Institute Research Award

Gramophone's Conductor Podcasts of the Year 2022