The Academy of Ancient Music celebrates its golden anniversary this year - 5 decades since harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood and record producer Peter Wadland cooked up the idea of forming a historically-informed orchestra one evening in London's Marquis of Granby pub. Since then, they have produced hundreds of recordings, launched the careers of many international soloists and brought fantastic period performances of Baroque and Classical music to the public's attention.

Today, Hannah French takes the opportunity to chat to current music director Laurence Cummings and CEO John McMunn about the group's first fifty years and the impact they have made.