Friday 3 April 2015 Brighton Dome Concert Hall 3pm, tickets from £5
Brighton Festival Chorus is set to perform Bach’s St. John Passion in a semi-staged Prom-style performance at Brighton Dome on Good Friday, 3 April 2015. This special concert marks the choir’s 500th performance since it was founded in 1968.
This unique ‘in the round’ Proms-style performance of JS Bach’s glorious St John Passion is a return of the highly acclaimed, semi-staged version last performed in 2008 and 2009 and takes the singers in and amongst the audience.
First performed in Leipzig on Good Friday 1724, Bach’s powerfully meditative interpretation of the Gospel of St John is a work of startling immediacy yet subtle nuance, recreating the psychological and emotional conflict of Christ’s final days before his public trial and crucifixion.
This performance will be conducted by James Morgan with soloists, Rob Murray – Evangelist, Paul Reeves – Christus, Andrew Rupp – Pilate, Katherine Manley – Soprano, Juliette Pochin – Mezzo-soprano, Mark Wilde – Tenor and Ashley Riches – Bass.
‘One of the top 5 choirs in the UK’ The Times
This special concert marks the 500th performance of Brighton Festival Chorus. There have been many exceptional concerts alongside numerous associations with many of the major British orchestras and the most celebrated of conductors and soloists of recent times.
Brighton Festival Chorus was founded in 1968 and its debut performance was Belshazzar’s Feast, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer, William Walton. Ever since, it has established and maintained a reputation as an amateur choir working with top professional orchestras and artists, delivering consistently high quality performances. Brighton Festival Chorus is also known for its versatility, as it performs not only the standard choral repertoire but also new works and commissions, and collaborations with popular music artists. The chorus performs in the Brighton Festival every year and at major concert venues in London, the rest of Britain and in Europe. It supports Brighton Festival Youth Choir to promote and sustain interest in choral singing in young people, and it also arranges choral workshops to encourage participation in the local community.