Entertainment: Joe Fuller
The Riot Ensemble present local
modern classical music on Halloween
Agreat collection of musicians called the Riot Ensemble are in town this week, who I’ve been lucky enough to see twice before at concerts in the last few years. They aim to connect people to contemporary music and are led by a core group of seven musicians, programming and producing concerts themselves and featuring music they want to play. Such passion and commitment shone through in their previous shows, with informative introductions and well-rehearsed playing creating a fantastic all-round evening and a good atmosphere. 
So far in my column I’ve looked at immediately melodic pieces that would appeal to music fans of all types, but this concert might appeal more to those with avant-garde or indie or alternative rock leanings. If you like anything like Ben Frost, Nils Frahm, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, then this could be your kind of thing.
The Riot Ensemble will be playing modern classical, which can frighten some people but don’t let that put you off! There are melodies and satisfying musical resolutions to be found, you just might have more of a journey to find them, kind of like switching from Radiohead’s The Bends to Amnesiac perhaps.
Which isn’t to say that modern classical music isn’t enjoyable, in my first review from over two years ago I wrote that there were beautiful gems such as an enthralling piano piece by Nicholas Omiccioli. When I saw them in 2014 they combined local compositions with international pieces, including Gustavo Penha’s ‘Estudo Sobre Gravitacao’ which “evoked a horror movie soundtrack descent that was unsettling in an enjoyable way”.
The programme is generous and good value for money, and includes Jonathan Harvey’s chamber masterwork ‘Death of Light, Light of Death’. Harvey wrote that the “unflinching sense of catastrophe that hangs over this picture has given it a special appeal to the sensibilities of our own time.” The concert is centred around that haunting piece and also includes Helen Grime’s ‘Oboe Quartet’ and David Lang’s ‘Lend/Lease’ piece for piccolo and woodblocks.
I’ve never seen live woodblock playing myself so I’m looking forward to that, and atypical instrumentation is one of the joys of modern classical music. There will also be music from Peter Copley, Phil Baker, Patrick Harrex and Jonathan Clark, all of whom are New Music Brighton composers who live and/or work in Brighton.
It’s on an early night on Halloween so it could work as a fun, suitably spooky outing before a night out. If you want to try something different and striking this Saturday then give the Riot Ensemble a whirl.
St. Nicholas Church, Brighton, Saturday 31 October, 5pm, Tickets £10 on the door (£5 concessions)
