Conductor and violinist Sir Neville Marriner (1924-) became one of the world's best-known conductors after founding the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and becoming its musical director. From this position, he promoted a revival in Baroque music, striving to keep original pacing while using more modern instruments. Marriner was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979, knighted in 1985, and named to the Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 1995.