http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/ The latest United Kingdom News The Priests en Copyright 2010 2010-02-22T11:36:45+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_tour_ireland_and_northern_ireland/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_tour_ireland_and_northern_ireland/#When:11:36:45Z We are very pleased to announce that The Priests are soon heading out on tour, following on from the success of their recent album ‘Harmony’. The Priests will be headlining at theatres across Ireland and Northern Ireland, and will be joined by a very special guest, soprano Camilla Kerslake. The dates you need follow below… Wexford Opera House - Fri 14 May - Tel: 053 9122144 or www.wexfordoperahouse.ie Royal Theatre Castlebar*- Sat 15 May - Tel: 0818 300 000 or www.theroyal.ie Grand Canal Theatre Dublin* - Sun 23 May - Tel: 0818 719 377 or www.grandcanaltheatre.ie Cork Opera House - Mon 7 June - Tel: 021 4270022 or www.corkoperahouse.ie INEC Killarney* - Fri 11 June - Tel: 064 6671555 or www.inec.ie University Concert Hall Limerick - Sat 12 June - Tel: 061 331549 or www.uch.ie Millennium Forum Derry - Tues 15 June - Tel: 028 7126 4455 or www.millenniumforum.co.uk Belfast Waterfront - Sat 19 June - Tel: Tel: 028 9033 4455 or www.waterfront.co.uk All shows start at 8pm.  Tickests available from local venues (booking fees/charges may apply) *Also available from ticketmaster.ie Tel: 0818 719 300 and ticketmaster outlets nationwide. (Telephone & Internet bookings subject to €1.50 s/c per ticket up to €12.00; 12.5% over €12 (max €5.95) / Agents €2.00) 2010-02-22T11:36:45+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_on_twitter/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_on_twitter/#When:12:17:11Z We’re pleased to announce that The Priests are now on Twitter You can follow their tweets at http://twitter.com/thepriests 2010-02-10T12:17:11+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/father_eugenes_latest_blog/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/father_eugenes_latest_blog/#When:12:42:31Z Find out what the Fathers have been up to over the past few weeks, courtesy of Father Eugene, over in the blog section now. 2010-01-28T12:42:31+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_on_songs_of_praise/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_on_songs_of_praise/#When:10:45:22Z We are very pleased to announce that The Priests will soon be featuring in their very own Songs of Praise special. The show will be dedicated entirely to The Priests, and is currently being filmed in their respective parishes. You’ll be able to watch this very special show next month, on Mothering Sunday, 14th of March. 2010-01-27T10:45:22+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_in_concert_with_the_scola_of_the_london_oratory_school/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_in_concert_with_the_scola_of_the_london_oratory_school/#When:12:00:33Z The Priests will give their first concert of year next month when they perform in aid of The London Oratory School Scola Foundation. The event will take place at London’s Cadogan Hall on 12th February and will feature ‘Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace’ and favourites from The Priests new album, ‘Harmony’. Tickets are now on sale for £45, £30 and £20 from the Box Office. Book now online at www.cadoganhall.com or call 020 7730 4500 Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X The London Oratory School Schola Foundation is a registered charity no: 1119254 IN AID OF THE LONDON ORATORY SCHOOL SCHOLA FOUNDATION Patrons: HRH Princess Michael of Kent, CHERIE BLAIR, Simon callow & James Macmillan 2010-01-05T12:00:33+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_wish_you_a_merry_christmas/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_wish_you_a_merry_christmas/#When:17:23:33Z     2009-12-23T17:23:33+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_talk_about_the_meaning_of_harmony1/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_talk_about_the_meaning_of_harmony1/#When:13:20:08Z Following the release of ‘Harmony’, we asked The Priests to discuss the meaning behind their album title. Stay tuned for more on our exclusive chat with The Priests, arriving here on their official site over the Christmas and New Year period. What is the meaning of harmony to you? Martin, ‘Harmony essentially for me is about - in the busy, busy world we all live in - trying to find a little bit of stillness, of peace. Maybe this harmony will enable us to be at peace with ourselves and with the world, and maybe be a bit more alert to the beauty of the world and the beauty of people, and God obviously as well in our lives. All of that is what harmony means for me and what we wanted to convey in the album title - It can be a struggle to achieve it but keep trying!’ David, ‘Harmony means to me to blend and get together in a positive way. Unity, togetherness and peace.’ What do you feel is the inspiration for the new album? David, ‘Again, it’s music that we love, songs we wanted to record. We feel it’s music that people will also love. There’s some music that people are familiar with already, some real favourites like ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. That one was very popular at the concert we performed at earlier in the year, so we put it on the album.’ Martin, ‘I would say it is essentially our love of music and I think that we enjoy the singing very much indeed. We enjoy the blend, and the harmony somehow reflects the blend. It’s like a fermentation process that’s been going on for 35 years. It’s great that we’ve been able to open up the repertoire even more. We’ve had to learn new pieces but all of these will hopefully lift people’s spirits. Harmony, I hope, will be a title that people will latch onto.’ Do you have a message for the fans? Eugene, ‘We hope that they like the album. We’re thrilled to have had the opportunity to make a second album. We never dreamt that would happen. We got to write a song of our own, so ‘King of Kings’ is written by ourselves and it’s ideal for choral singing. We hope the fans will like it and might like to sing it.’ ‘Harmony’ - OUT NOW 2009-12-15T13:20:08+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_announce_2010_uk_tour/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_announce_2010_uk_tour/#When:18:02:26Z The Priests have announced their 2010 UK Tour where they will be performing tracks from their stunning new album, Harmony . Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday 27th November, 2009. Below are all the dates and box offices numbers you need to book your ticket! Wednesday 26th May - NEWCASTLE CITY HALL - 0191 261 2606 Thursday 27th May - GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL 0844 499 9990           Saturday 29th May - BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY HALL – 0121 780 3333 Sunday 30th May - CARDIFF ST DAVIDS HALL – 029 2087 8444 Tuesday 1st June - BOURNEMOUTH PAVILION THEATRE – 0844 576 3000 Wednesday 2nd June - MANCHESTER BRIDGEWATER HALL – 0161 907 9000 Tickets are £45, £30 and £20 and will be on general sale. Or you can also book online at www.gigsandtours.com 2009-11-26T18:02:26+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/our_exclusive_chat_with_the_priests_part_3/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/our_exclusive_chat_with_the_priests_part_3/#When:17:14:54Z Ahead of their album release this coming Monday, we asked The Priests for an insight into what makes ‘Harmony’ different to their previous offering. Q: How does this album differ from the last one? Father Eugene: ‘I think, because over the last year we have been singing together so much, our voices blend better and our sound has matured. There’s an even greater sense of synergy with the voices, and we’re more confident too. Even as a professional singer, you never stop fine-tuning the instrument.’ Father David: ‘It seems to be bigger, bolder, more confident. There are some very powerful classical pieces on it.’ Q: What’s been the most unforgettable moment of recording the album? Father Martin: ‘The whole process has been quite amazing! There was a little moment that I’ll always remember. We went to Abbey Road, and just as we walked into the studio we heard the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra playing the piece that we had composed, King of Kings. It was the first we’d heard the orchestral arrangement and it was a moment that was so uplifting and enjoyable, almost like we’d given birth to this beautiful piece of music! For us it was really special, I’ll never forget it.’ Harmony is released on Monday 23rd November. To pre-order the new album visit Amazon 2009-11-20T17:14:54+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_on_tv/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_on_tv/#When:10:21:50Z The Priests will be busy promoting their new album over the next few weeks and you can look forward to them appearing and performing on a number of TV shows.   Songs of Praise BBC1 Sunday 15TH November 4.55pm    GMTV ITV Thursday 19TH November From 6am Performance and interview   The Alan Titchmarsh Show ITV Thursday 26th November 3pm Performance and interview   This Morning  ITV Friday 18th December From 10.35am Performance of ‘Silent Night’   ‘Harmony’ - Out November 23rd. Pre-order HERE. 2009-11-13T10:21:50+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/our_exclusive_chat_with_the_priests_part_2/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/our_exclusive_chat_with_the_priests_part_2/#When:11:22:50Z Here, they talk about the recording process of ‘Harmony’ - including their visit to Abbey Road - and they tell us how they felt the first time they heard the finished songs. FATHER EUGENE Q: So tell us about the recording process… A: We recorded for the most part in Amberville Studios, which is in a location equidistant from all our parishes in Northern Ireland. It’s in a little village called Cullybackey, where we actually had recorded our last album. We travelled more recently to Abbey Road to record with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who are providing the orchestral tracks on the album. That coincided with the choral tracks, which were sung by the Brompton Oratory School and the choir called Coro, both of whom have sung with us in the past. Coro sang with us during our live show in Hammersmith last June, and we sang with the Brompton Oratory School in February in St Peter’s Cathedral in Belfast for the performance of The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins, and of course one of the tracks on the album is The Benedictus from that very work, so it’s a piece that both the choir and ourselves love very much. Then, after the orchestral tracks, we journeyed out to Rome. The first time we heard the tracks all together with their final mixes was a very proud moment. Q: What did you think? A: We were very pleased with the final cut. We had recorded more than was required so we had to make the difficult decision of what will be on the album, but the others will be available online or on iTunes. We’ve chosen the final tracklisting and the order of the songs now. It was very democratic and we all agreed on the final decision. FATHER MARTIN Q: How did you find recording the album? A: It has been a fabulous experience! I would even say that this year’s experience was very different from last year. It was intense and we were very doing much more – producing harmonies, assisting with the arrangements. It was very uplifting and very rewarding. We also sang in different languages. We recorded pieces in French, Spanish and German. Q: Do you speak any of those languages? A : A little French, yes. Not the Spanish. It’s fascinating singing in a different language, though. A great experience! Mike Hedges produced this and the first album (along with Sally Herbert), so it was nice to work with the same people again. A great team, great expertise. FATHER DAVID Q: Have you enjoyed the process of making the album? A: We knew what was ahead of us, so it wasn’t so strange going back into the recording studio. It was nice that we were familiar with the recording set-up, so we enjoyed that. It’s a really intense process. I think for the first album we were more familiar with the songs already, so this time we did some songs we weren’t used to singing together. That tested us a little bit. We weren’t as comfortable with the music and had to be very focussed. We had to work out the arrangements as we went along. 2009-11-12T11:22:50+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/join_the_priests_at_liverpool_metropolitan_cathedral/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/join_the_priests_at_liverpool_metropolitan_cathedral/#When:17:46:50Z On 10th November The Priests are doing a special one off Concert for PBS, at the spectacular Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. As well as being joined by a 25-piece orchestra and a choir, The Priests will also be joined by some very special guests. If you would like to part of this magical show, which will be aired on the American TV network PBS in March 2010, then visit www.sroaudiences.com. Tickets are completely free so please be quick to ensure you don’t miss out. * Please note all audience members must be over the age of 16.  2009-11-04T17:46:50+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/we_talk_to_the_priests/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/we_talk_to_the_priests/#When:10:18:25Z Recently we spoke to The Priests as they travelled to Oxford for a performance on Songs of Praise. Over the next few weeks we’ll adding extracts from the interview here on The Priests’ official website, including news on the recording of their new album, the inspiration behind it, and we find out exactly what Harmony means to them.  Firstly we find out what The Priests were up when we spoke to them… FATHER EUGENE: Q: How are you? A: Fine, thanks! We’re in the car at the moment. Q: What have you been up to this week? A: We’re heading to Oxford to do a recording for Songs of Praise. During the week, Martin has been very busy moving house and moving to a new parish, but straight away he had to come with us to today’s recording. David and I have been getting along with the ordinary demands and joys of everyday life in our own respective parishes. Last weekend we completed the recording of our album in Rome. We stayed for a few extra days to complete the whole album. We’re also very much looking forward to the launch event for the new album which is taking place in London on Monday (12th Oct). We’ll be performing some songs from the album to the press and industry people as well as a few fans. FATHER MARTIN: Q: How are you? A: Not too bad! Just beginning to come to terms with the move I’ve just made. I just moved house and it was a bit traumatic. A very emotional time as I’d gotten very attached to people and had to say goodbye. I’ve moved to County Down from County Antrim, and I’m in a parish with 2000 parishioners. It’s a very beautiful part of the world. There are two churches, two schools, and I’m also the Chaplin, along with another priest, to a hospital, so I’m going to be a busy wee man! Q: You have your album launch event next week…. A: Yes, yes. It should be very enjoyable evening. It will be nice to meet the people who have helped us create such wonderful music. FATHER DAVID: Q: How are you? A: Not too bad! We’re on our way to Oxford in the van, going to record Songs of Praise. Q: Are you looking forward to it? A: Yes! We’ve done it before so we know roughly what’s involved. It’s good fun. Another interesting, pleasant experience that you wouldn’t normally have. Q: What have you been up to this week? A: I had an interesting visit yesterday from Father Dennis Ryan. He’s from Australia, from the parish of Portland. He’s a big fan of The Priests. He has our first CD and the DVD and he has promoted us in his area. He was over on holiday and he contacted me by e-mail to ask if he might come up and meet me. So he landed on my doorstep yesterday morning at quarter past nine. We went to church and prayed the rosary before mass, then we came down to the house and he brought with him a CD of a young fellow called Mark Vincent. He won X Factor in Australia, and he made his professional debut in a concert that we gave when we were in Sydney last year. Mark has released an album now and he thanked us for the opportunity to perform with us. Dennis was telling me that the next nearest parish to his is 100 miles away. He’s the only priest in his parish - very different to our experience in our parishes. We visited the primary school in my parish, and got the children to guess where Dennis was from. They wanted to know all about the animals in Australia. Then we went for a nice walk and had lunch and then I left him to catch the train back to Dublin. Other than that I’ve been doing parish visits to the sick and attending to parish business. 2009-10-23T10:18:25+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/exclusive_album_launch_and_abbey_road_pictures/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/exclusive_album_launch_and_abbey_road_pictures/#When:16:28:25Z Over in the gallery section now we’ve just added some behind-the-scenes pictures of The Priests’ at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. Backed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Priests were there to record new tracks from their forthcoming album, Harmony. We’ve also added some exclusive pictures from The Priests’ album launch party, which took place in London earlier this month. View the Abbey Road Recording Album View the Harmony Launch Event Album 2009-10-21T16:28:25+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/harmony_preview_clips/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/harmony_preview_clips/#When:14:15:10Z Hear the sublime sound of the The Priests’ forthcoming album, ‘Harmony’, by visiting the Music Section now! We’ve added 3 special preview clips to give you a taste of what you can expect. Visit The Priests’ Music Section here. 2009-10-15T14:15:10+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_sing_amazing_grace/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_sing_amazing_grace/#When:14:14:10Z The Priests’ new album Harmony, out on November 23rd, will feature several timeless hymns. Among these is the beautiful ‘Amazing Grace’… Just click HERE and you can hear The Priests’ version of this all time classic. 2009-10-15T14:14:10+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/win_an_exclusive_invitation_to_the_priests_launch_event_in_london/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/win_an_exclusive_invitation_to_the_priests_launch_event_in_london/#When:14:26:10Z We are thrilled to announce details of a new competition offering 10 lucky fans entry for two to The Priests’ album launch evening! The event for The Priests’ new album Harmony will take place on Monday 12th October at 1 Whitehall Place in London and will include an exclusive performance of a selection of songs off their upcoming album. Simply enter your details HERE to go in the draw, we’ll be announcing the lucky winners here on The Priests’ official site on the morning of October 12th.  Best of luck! 2009-10-09T14:26:10+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_at_the_royal_albert_hall/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_at_the_royal_albert_hall/#When:10:10:10Z The Priests will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday 24th of September in a live extravaganza hosted by Classic FM in aid of Music Makers, Classic FM’s official charity. While tickets for the show are now sold out, you can listen to the concert in full when it is broadcast on Wednesday the 30th of September at 9pm on Classic FM. The Priests will be joined on the night by the nation’s oldest-serving military band, the Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards. Violinist Sarah Chang will also be performing the Bruch Violin Concerto. 2009-09-17T10:10:10+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/second_album_confirmed/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/second_album_confirmed/#When:16:44:33Z The Priests’, whose eponymous debut album sold almost 2 million copies in more than 40 countries last year, making it the fastest-selling classical debut album of all time are set to release their second album entitled Harmony this November. The album, which will again be released by Sony’s Epic will offer spiritual, classical and sacred music including The Lord’s Prayer and Silent Night. Epic’s Nick Raphael, the man who discovered The Priests commented: “The Priests first album reached a huge audience that transcended their religious denomination. We hope that album two can build upon the huge global awareness and sales that the first created.” To pre-order the album click HERE 2009-08-14T16:44:33+00:00 http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_on_jonathan_ross_-_friday_bbc_one_1035pm/ http://www.thepriests.com/gb/news/detail/the_priests_on_jonathan_ross_-_friday_bbc_one_1035pm/#When:08:44:11Z David, Eugene and Martin will be interviewed on BBC One’s “Friday Night with Jonathan Ross” tomorrow night (Friday 29th May) at 10:35pm. It will also be available on the BBC iplayer for those who miss it! 2009-05-28T08:44:11+00:00