The Alehouse Sessions

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The alehouse sessions is flexible and can be presented in many different forms and settings. It can be an enlightenment project, a music-theatre, an improvised happening, a show or an educational event – I see it is an organic, living organism that never stands still. Music-making during the period of the Civil wars and Commonwealth was therefore largely divided between those who “chose to fiddle at home” (either in their own home or in the homes of the Gentlemen that could afford to employ them) and those professional musicians forced to make a living playing in taverns and alehouses. one place in Berkshire, England it has been recorded that between 1611 and 1618 an average of 6 to 8 pints of beer were consumed per person – every day You can also use the external lift near the Artists' Entrance on Southbank Centre Square to reach Mandela Walk, Level 2. For access to the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium seating rows A to C and wheelchair spaces in the Front Stalls, please enter via the Artists' Entrance in the Queen Elizabeth Hall Slip Road (Level 1).

Bjarte Eike launched his Alehouse Sessions in company with like-minded musicians 15 years ago. The ensemble comprises a core of regular performers, all of whom have committed to memory a huge setlist of up to four hours of music. Typically they meet a day or so before a concert tour to share a meal and make music together; then next day, re-grouping thirty minutes before the show, they discover Eike’s select-menu for the evening. “That ensures that every show is fresh,” he notes. “I make sure we never repeat the same programme twice. It’s therefore essential to work with people who share my outlook and dare to adventure. We’re into a high-risk sport, with lots of traps and places where the unexpected appears - for good or for ill. And so the audience knows we’re vulnerable. But our skill is seen in how we re-act on the hoof to the unpredictable. That’s authenticity and honesty - and above all it’s a performance that’s genuine.”This made it more difficult for musicians to bring their instruments 4, but the demand for entertainment at the drinking houses was high, so instead people started performing vocal music like part-songs, catches and canons. Post-restoration My masters, are you mad?… Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty, but to gabble like tinkers at this time of night? Do ye make an ale-house of my lady’s house, that ye squeak your cozier’s catches without any mitigation or remorse of voice?” Civil war/Commonwealth

Everyone that has been involved in the project throughout the years, has experienced musical and personal developments through the way we work and test ideas. We have initiated our own workshops where we gather in some remote place and work with improvisation, choir singing, rhythmical exercises, dancing and, most importantly, strengthening the friendship through cooking, drinking and gossiping.Talk to a member of staff at the auditorium entrance if you have a disability that means you can’t queue, or you need extra time to take your seat. They can arrange priority entry for you as soon as the doors open.