Classical Music Awards: Early Music Group of the Year - Les Arts Florissants: Artists strike triumphant note on big awards night

THE WORK of an American in Paris, Les Arts Florissants was founded by William Christie in 1979. It is a flexible group of players and singers devoted to enlarging our appreciation of music from the 17th and 18th centuries. This includes stage pieces and opera, which it performs with uninhibited gusto. In 1987 its production of Lully's Atys was voted the year's best opera in France, and its recordings have won numerous prizes. In the last year it has toured Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, the UK and the USA, and made its Salzburg Festival debut.