The charismatic and flamboyant Red Priest return to Brighton to help encourage the stars of tomorrow and to raise money for the Brighton Early Music Festival

"Mad, bad and deliciously dangerous...”

Review of Red Priest in Gramophone, April 2003

Red Priest will be supported by performances by two vibrant young ensembles, which the Brighton Early Music Festival believes are good enough to take the classical music world by storm. They are the baroque ensemble The Little Baroque Company and the vocal group The 1607 Ensemble. As Deborah Roberts, one of the Artistic Directors of the Brighton Early Music Festival explained,

“These groups gave outstanding performances on the festival’s 2007 Early Music Live! apprenticeship scheme. They were so good that we have invited them back to perform in the 2008 Festival.” The Early Music Live! scheme is run by the festival and aims to give a helping hand to young musicians aged 20+ who are in the first stages of a professional musical career.

“Audiences generally only go for what they know,” the other Artistic Director, Clare Norburn added, “so we felt it was really important to give these musicians a platform alongside Red Priest as a way of introducing them to our audiences. After all, these are the musical stars of the future. So, as well as an opportunity to experience Red Priest again, the concert will give a flavour of what to expect at the 2008 Brighton Early Music Festival in the autumn.”

All the artists are donating their performances on 6th April to help raise funds for the 2008 Brighton Early Music Festival. The concert will raise funds to enable appearances by leading ensembles including The Sixteen, I Fagiolini and The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Red Priest in the 2008 festival.

Brighton Early Music Festival is known for its quirky approach to celebrating the music of the past.  Although the main festival doesn’t take place until the autumn, the Festival is promoting a special preview concert on Sunday, 6th April at 6pm, which will include a performance of baroque favourites by the charismatic and maverick baroque ensemble, Red Priest.  Taking their name from Vivaldi’s nickname, Red Priest has re-defined baroque music performance to appeal well beyond a usual classical music audience.  They combine virtuosity and musicality with an extraordinarily flamboyant and theatrical performance style. 

Red Priest, The Little Baroque Company and The 1607 Ensemble play St George’s Church, Kemp Town, Brighton on Sunday, 6th April at 6pm.
Tickets: Premium: £25; A: £20 (£15 concs); B: £12 (£10 concs); C: £6 (restricted view); under 12s: £4
Box office: 01273 709709 (£2.25 charge) or online: www.bremf.org.uk (no fee)