U.K.-based Armonico Consort is a period-instrument orchestra, a vocal ensemble, and an opera company, devoted to performing early music in adventurous ways. Their innovative productions of operas by Purcell and Mozart have won them international attention, and the group's 50 annual concerts, performed on original instruments, have taken them beyond their usual venue, the Royal Albert Hall in London. Founded in 2001 by Christopher Monks, the group has worked with many of the leading artists in the period performance field, including Willard White, Nicola Benedetti, Emma Kirkby, and Elin Manahan Thomas. Not content to perform only masterpieces of the Baroque and Classical eras, the Armonico Consort stages original productions that incorporate older music, such as Too Hot to Handel, Baroque Around the Block, and Monteverdi's Flying Circus. An offshoot of the Armonico Consort is the AC Academy, a program designed for British children, which arose from Monks' frustration with inadequate training and resources for music education in the schools.