PEOPLES, RITES, MEN Presented by Liszt Academy

Strange instruments, singing and clapping nuns, unusual polyphony and Latin masses set to music: the Liszt Kidz Academy samples all these this autumn – as well as, of course, examining what impact these have had on our favourite composers – as we launch a brand-new series Divine Music. In the second in the Divine Music series we travel east, but more significantly, we journey back in time – right to Antiquity. We explore many kinds of ceremony from Arab to Roman liturgy, as well as expressions of Orthodox and Byzantine ritual that are at first sight somewhat startling. Of course, these are all illustrated with music. And who better to perform these than members of the famous St Ephraim Male Choir, founded in 2002, who were the first non-Slav ensemble to triumph at an international Orthodox church festival. But a warning to all those who suffer from travel sickness: one moment we are in ancient Byzantium, and the next we find ourselves amidst contemporary Hungarian music!