GPAC Presents Halloween-Fest with Red Priest
9/10/08
GPAC PRESENTS HALLOWEEN-FEST WITH RED PRIEST
The Germantown Performing Arts Centre presents Red Priest Nightmare in Venice on Saturday, October 25 at 8 p.m. Named after the flame-haired priest and composer, Antonio Vivaldi, Red Priest is one of the major success stories on the international music scene today. This extraordinary English ensemble has redefined the art of baroque music performance, combining the fruits of extensive research with swashbuckling virtuosity, creative re-composition, heart-on-sleeve emotion and compelling stagecraft. Concert attendees are encouraged to don their Halloween finest for the post-concert celebration and costume contest.
WHO: Red Priest
WHAT: Nightmare in Venice
WHEN: Saturday, October 25, 8 p.m.
TICKETS: Single tickets are $25, $30, and $35, plus handling fee, and are available now by calling (901) 751-7500 or online at www.GPACweb.com.
Box Office Hours: Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., and noon on day of performance. All major credit cards accepted.
WHERE: Germantown Performing Arts Centre
1801 Exeter Road
Germantown, TN 38138
CONTACT: For more information or to arrange an interview with the artist(s), please contact Carrie Corbett at (901) 751-7501 or carrie@gpacweb.com.
ARTIST WEB: www.piersadams.com/RedPriest/index.html
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:
Red Priest is swashbuckling, extroverted, and scandalous - energetic adjectives for a harpsichordist, cellist, violinist, and recorder player. The British quartet has cut a wide swath through the Baroque
music world, as you can tell from the titles of some of the group's programs: Priest on the Run, Nightmare in Venice, The Red Priest and the Virgin. It's not your high-school English teacher's Baroque music ensemble.
Unlike a number of typically formal early-music groups, whose primary goal is often to re-create an "authentic" Baroque performance, Red Priest approaches concerts from a decidedly different angle. This group of British performers is well-known for playing with alarming speed, even frenetically, but the band is also capable of producing quieter moments.
Red Priest was founded in 1997 by Piers Adams, whom the Washington Post has called "the reigning recorder virtuoso of our day." The band's name comes from Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678 - July 28, 1741), nicknamed "Il Prete Rosso" ("The Red Priest"), who was a Venetian priest and Baroque music composer, as well as a famous virtuoso violinist; he was born and raised in the Republic of Venice. The Four Seasons, a series of four violin concerti, is his best-known work and a highly popular Baroque piece.
Red Priest is the only early music group in the world to have been compared in the press to the Rolling Stones, Jackson Pollock, the Marx Brothers, Spike Jones and the Cirque du Soleil. International music critics have described the Red Priest style as "electrifying," "sheer daring," "immaculately forged," "sonically supercharged," "brilliant and inspired," "deliciously twisted."
Piers Adams is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest recorder virtuosi. His playing has been described as "astonishing" (Washington Post), "breathtaking" (London Daily Telegraph), "staggering" (Gramophone). He has performed in numerous festivals and at premiere concert halls throughout the world, including London's Royal Festival, Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, as soloist with orchestras including the Philharmonia, the English Sinfonia, the Academy of Ancient Music, the Singapore Simphony and the BBC Symphony. Piers has made several solo CDs reflecting an eclectic taste, ranging from his award-winning Vivaldi debut disc to David Bedford's Recorder Concerto - one of many major works written for him. He has also researched, arranged and recorded a variety of romantic showpieces, which are a mainstay of his recital programs. Full details of his performing activities can be found on his website.
Julia Bishop is one of the outstanding baroque violin specialists of her generation, with a virtuoso style described as "scorching" (Washington Post) and "psychedelic" (BBC Music Magazine). She has toured the world with most of the UK's leading period instrument orchestras, including the English Concert, of which she was a member for six years. She is now in great demand as an orchestral leader and soloist, in particular with the celebrated Gabrieli Consort, with whom she performs internationally and records for Deutsche Grammophon. She has also appeared as concerto soloist with Florilegium, the Brandenburg Consort and the Hanover Band, and regularly coaches and directs the baroque orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music, London. Julia made her solo debut for BBC Radio Three's "Music Restored", performing virtuoso violin sonatas by Festing, and will shortly record her first recital disc for DorianRecordings.
Angela East is widely respected as one of the most brilliant and dynamic performers in the period instrument world, praised in The Times, London, for the "elemental power" of her cello playing. She has given numerous concerto performances in London's Queen Elizabeth and Wigmore Halls, and has performed as soloist and continuo cellist with many of Europe's leading baroque orchestras. Amongst her impressive list of concert credits are La Scala, Milan, Sydney Opera House, Versailles and Glyndebourne. In 1991 Angela formed "The Revolutionary Drawing Room" which performs chamber works from the revolutionary period in Europe on original instruments, and whose first eight CDs have received glowing reviews world-wide. In May 2001 she recorded the complete Bach Cello Suites for Dorian Recordings.
Howard Beach's uniquely wide-ranging style of keyboard playing has been developed through years of partnering fine musicians in many different fields of music, as well as his own experience as an accomplished singer and violinist. As an outstanding student he was piano accompanist to the now world famous Bryn Terfel and numerous other prize-winning singers and instrumentalists. Since 1989 he has worked regularly with Piers Adams in concert and in the recording studio as both harpsichordist and pianist - including several performances in London's Wigmore Hall and tours throughout Europe, Canada and the Far East. He has also performed and recorded as a concerto soloist and continuo player with Les Arts Florissants, the Apollo Chamber Orchestra and the London Mozart Players. Howard broadcasts frequently on radio and has been consultant and performer on programs for UK's Channel 4 TV.
