Conductor and keyboard player Christopher Monks is the founder and Artistic Director of Armonico Consort – an arts organisation which has won widespread acclaim for its engaging programming that brings classical music to new audiences. With the Consort, Christopher has founded the AC Academy, a nationwide education initiative, which has brought choral music to more than 100,000 children in the UK and sees over 700 children sing in an AC Academy choir each week. He has also created a programme which has created scores of new choirs and choir leaders in schools in London, Coventry, Telford, the Midlands and Warwickshire. In 2013, 1,500 young singers from AC Academy choirs will perform at a gala concert at the Royal Albert Hall.