Early music ensemble The Telling offer socially-distanced Hove date

Professional early music ensemble The Telling perform their first live concert in Brighton & Hove this year.
The TellingThe Telling
The Telling

They are offering a socially-distanced candlelit classical music concert at St Barnabas Church, Hove this Sunday, October 4 at 7.30pm.

The Telling singers Clare Norburn and Ariane Prüssner will perform music by medieval abbess Hildegard of Bingen, chant and troubadour melodies as part of their Contemplation programme.

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The Telling’s singer and founder, Clare Norburn, who grew up in Brighton and Hove and, together with Deborah Roberts, co-founded and co-ran the Brighton Early Music Festival until she stepped down in 2017, explains “My fellow singer, Ariane Prüssner has been leading a weekly workshop every Friday morning since lockdown started.

“The participants contain a number of Brighton and Hove and Sussex residents. When we announced we were doing a few informal outdoor concerts in August and September in North London, many of the Sussex participants approached to ask if we could do likewise in Sussex…”

The Telling have been far from idle during lockdown: thanks to an Arts Council England Emergency Fund grant, as well as the free singing workshops via Zoom every Friday morning, they released daily short films from June 1 to July 10, and are currently releasing online adaptions of concert/plays and filmed concerts every Wednesday (some accompanied by Zoom workshops and Q&A session) until October 28.

After changes in government guidelines, The Telling is now set to present their first indoor concert since lockdown to a socially-distanced audience with a very limited capacity.

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Clare said: “Live concerts are rare at the moment; despite the fact that professional musicians are now allowed to deliver indoor performances, very few are doing so.

“This is partly due to the fact that social distancing in venues often doesn’t make it financially viable, and also because of the hard work in managing the strict measures concert promoters must now take to ensure the audience is safe and in line with government guidelines.

“For example, audience members must wear masks and can only buy tickets in groups no more than six; each group must be socially distanced by at least two metres, the concert organiser must collect and keep track and trace records for 21 days and the concert must take place in a “Covid-secure building” such as a church, theatre or venue. That’s a lot to ask of some ensembles or promoters.”

Taking place at St Barnabas Church, Hove, the concert will begin at 7.30pm featuring the following line-up:

Clare Norburn soprano

Ariane Prüssner mezzo and medieval harp

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The performance will hold just 40 audience members in socially distanced marked areas. Tickets must be booked in advance and are available to buy for one-, two-, three- and four-person marked places so audience members can sit with friends while socially-distanced from others. Audience members will be asked to wear a mask and to scan a QR code or leave their phone number to comply with the Government’s Track and Trace programme.

Concert tickets (£18 adult, £15 concession) are on sale now via https://tellingcontemplation.eventbrite.co.uk

For more information visit http://www.thetelling.co.uk/

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