 The English Concert 's London debut was at the English Bach Festival in 1973 . In 1975 , Pinnock played the harpsichord in the first ever performance of Rameau 's last opera , Les Boréades , under John Eliot Gardiner . He toured North America with The English Concert for the first time in 1983 ; he had earlier spent two periods as Artist in Residence at Washington University , St. Louis . His debut at The Proms was in 1980 ; he later directed Handel 's oratorio Solomon in 1986 and many other large @-@ scale works with his orchestra . They toured worldwide and made numerous recordings , Pinnock directing " with a characteristic energy and enthusiasm which are readily communicated to audiences . " The Choir of the English Concert was at first an ad @-@ hoc group of singers assembled as needed , originally in 1983 for the first 20th century performance of Rameau 's Acante et Céphise ; it became an established choir for a period from the mid @-@ 1990s at the time they were performing Bach 's Mass in B minor . This allowed the ensemble to regularly perform baroque operas , oratorios and other vocal works ; a series of Bach 's major choral works followed . 
