The Arcadian Academy is a chamber music ensemble founded and directed by conductor and harpsichordist Nicholas McGegan. It takes its name and inspiration from the original association founded in Rome in 1690, which was a group of artists, musicians, and writers dedicated to the reform of Italian culture. The modern-day Arcadian Academy is a period instrument ensemble made up of members from San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. The group regularly tours the United States and Europe and has won several awards for its recordings. Its debut recording for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Scarlatti Cantatas with soprano Christine Brandes, was named Recording of the Month by Gramophone magazine. The group subsequently released three more volumes of Scarlatti cantatas with countertenors David Daniels and Brian Asawa, as well as a recording of duets with sopranos Brandes and Dominique Labelle. The group has received two Diapasons d'Or for its recordings of Nicola Matteis' Ayres for the Violin, Vols. I and II. The Arcadian Academy presented the premiere performance of the newly reconstructed Vespers of St. Cecilia by Alessandro Scarlatti at the 2001 Göttingen Festival.