Fundraiser Preview Concert

Despite heavy snow falling for much of the day St George's Church was packed for the BREMF fundraising concert on Sunday April 6th. Neither could the snow do anything to chill the warmth, enthusiasm and good cheer that abounded for the whole evening (however it did serve well to chill down several litres of sparkling mineral water that would not fit in the fridge!!)
The first half of the concert gave the audience a chance to 'preview' two new young ensembles, both part of the Brighton Early Music Live scheme last year, who will be giving lunchtime concerts as part of the main festival this year. First on, The Little Baroque Company played a set made up entirely of works based on the Chacconne (a repeated falling bass figure) and were able to show just how varied in mood such a simple idea can be. They played with great panache - obviously savouring the rather wild nature of the dance from which this popular instrumental form developed.

Next, the 1607 Ensemble burst on to the stage with the opening cry from Jannequin's highly popular madrigal 'La Guerre', continuing at break neck speed to rattle through the series of realistic battle noises that characterise this piece. Their set as a whole, sung entirely from memory, gave us all a delicious range of colours and moods from the frankly bawdy to the gently whimsical; and from the purity of a Lassus mass setting to a brilliantly conceived Round of Three Country dances by Thomas Ravenscroft, to which they added some rather more recent popular songs embedded in semi jazzy improvisations! All told it was a brilliant first half and served well to introduce these new groups to the BREMF audience. Many people were already planning to attend their concerts in the autumn. A member of each ensemble also spoke of what they had gained by being on the BREMF Live scheme. For those of us who had seen them develop and expand their ideas, it was clear that we had just heard for ourselves the value and vital importance of the scheme. That it bridges the gap between being gifted and promising students and recent graduates, to becoming young musicians who are finding their own identity and even mission within the music world. It makes it very easy and natural to ask our audiences to support this vital and such rewarding work!

The main thrust of the evening's fundraising, however, was to launch an appeal for e £5000 from donations towards bringing the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to perform in the Corn Exchange in BREMF this autumn. It is quite a big undertaking for such a small festival, but we feel, again, that this is vital work to ensure the continuing of audiences for classical music. It has to be a venue like the Corn Exchange if we are to meet younger audiences half way. At least it is a venue that many will be familiar with, and we have already shown with our BREMF Live gigs in pubs that using such venues is half the battle!

We don't need to apologise for classical music. If it is presented in the right way it is accessible to all. If we didn't believe that we would not be running this festival, and nor would most of our many volunteers!

Red Priest never cease to innovate! Even if you think you know how they play, they will always come up with something to surprise and delight. A lady sitting in the same row as me (Deborah) told me she thought they should be on prescription for cheering people up! Yet it is also important to note their consummate musicianship and sense of balance. As well as fast and furious Vivaldi - a slightly ironic 'Spring' from the Four Seasons - in which we could marvel at their sheer virtuosity and audacity, they played a beautiful and gentle Adagio from a Bach flute sonata (using a very soft toned bass recorder) with exquisite phrasing and style.

By the end of the evening the snow was melting and the pledges of support for the festival were starting to come in. We hope they will continue, - as a tribute to the generosity of the musicians who all dedicated their performances to the festival, and to the hopes we all share of being able to continue to bring the best of early music to Brighton. We 've said it elsewhere, but it is worth repeating here, that we are very much a grass roots organisation. With no regular funding at all, it is our Friends and Volunteers on which the festival depends for its survival.

So please help us any way you can - even if it is only by passing publicity among your friends and encouraging them to give us a try! To email our web address to all your friends would take only minutes, but helps us enormously.

Deborah Roberts: Clare Norburn
Artistic Directors