St George's is a former church in Great George Street, off Park Street, on the lower slopes of

Brandon Hill Brandon Hill () is the highest mountain in County Kilkenny, Ireland, with an elevation of and prominence at . The South Leinster Way, a long-distance trail, meandering through the Barrow Valley and traverses Brandon Hill. The village of Gra ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, England. Since 1999 it has been used as a music venue known as St George's Bristol. It was built in the 1820s by Sir Robert Smirke. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

History

St George's was built for use as a church in the

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People * Clifton (surname) * Clifton (given name) Places Australia *Clifton, Queensland, a town ** Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong * Clifton, Western Australia Canada * Clifton, Nova Sc ...

area of

, England, between 1821 and 1823 by the architect Sir Robert Smirke, who designed it in the

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

style. It was a " Waterloo church", the only one in Bristol to receive government money from the first grant under the Church Building Act of 1818. It has been designated as a grade II*

St George's Church, Brandon Hill, Bristol, BRO Picbox-4-BCh-19, 1250x1250

In 1999, the church underwent extensive renovations to make it suitable for use as a full-time concert venue and it re-opened that October under the name by which it is now known, St George's Bristol.

Concert venue

In 1976 St George's Music Trust was formed and in succeeding years they established the church as a major concert venue, initially known as St George's, Brandon Hill. The main body of the church seats 562 people and the crypt has been transformed into a bar and recording studios which are regularly used by the BBC. The 1999 renovations were extensive. They included replacing the auditorium pews with padded chairs, making the pews in the gallery more comfortable for concert seating, creating a box office and removing the font which was donated to the Church of

St Mary on the Quay St Mary on the Quay is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Bristol, England. It is situated on Colston Avenue, next to Colston Tower in the centre of the city. It is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Bristol; the first one built after the ...

. St George's Bristol is particularly known for presenting classical, jazz, folk, world music and opera and stages more than 200 events every year, regularly attracting artists of international note including

Angela Hewitt Angela Hewitt, (born July 26, 1958) is a Canadian classical pianist. She is best known for her Bach interpretations. Career Hewitt was born in Ottawa, Ontario, daughter of the Yorkshire-born Godfrey Hewitt (thus she also has British nationality ...

, Nicola Benedetti, Mark Padmore, plus The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (in Spring/Summer of 2010) and

Viktoria Mullova Viktoria Yurievna Mullova ( rus, Виктория Юрьевна Муллова, , vʲɪˈktorʲɪɪ̯ə ˈmuɫəvə; born 27 November 1959) is a Russian-born British violinist. She is best known for her performances and recordings of a number ...

Stephen Hough Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926). Biography Houg ...

, Paul Lewis,

Christian Blackshaw Christian Charles Blackshaw (born 18 January 1949, in Cheshire, England) is a British classical pianist. He was educated at The King's School, Macclesfield. In his teens he played oboe (as well as piano) in the Stockport Youth Orchestra in ...

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit "Society's Child, Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" an ...

Abdullah Ibrahim Abdullah Ibrahim (born Adolph Johannes Brand on 9 October 1934 and formerly known as Dollar Brand) is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cap ...

and

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. ...

(in Autumn 2011). In addition, regular performances are given by local professional groups such as the

Bristol Ensemble The Bristol Ensemble, formerly the Emerald Ensemble, is a professional chamber orchestra, based in Bristol, England. The ensemble has been in existence since 1994, when it was formed as a musicians' collective by violinist Roger Huckle. Their re ...

and amateur orchestras and choirs.

References

External links

St George's Bristol official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Georges Church Brandon Hill Former churches in Bristol Former Church of England church buildings Church of England church buildings in Bristol Churches completed in 1823 19th-century Church of England church buildings

Music venues in Bristol Concert halls in England

History

Archives

Concert venue

See also

References

External links