Welcome to the Devil's Tavern

Travel back in time to London's 'Devil's Tavern' in eighteenth-century Fleet Street. Here, in 1731, composer Maurice Greene established the Apollo Academy, a rival to Handel's Academy of Ancient Music. The Wednesday evening concerts of the Academy took place in the tavern's Great Room and were filled with a variety of performances by Greene's friends and students, with the maestro himself at the harpsichord. As a semi-private performance venue, it was an ideal location for composers to trial new works ahead of their first public performances. Although the club was exclusive, invited guests were welcome – York-born composer John Hebden, now resident at the Drury Lane theatre, regularly delighted the tavern's audience with a bassoon or cello concerto. Our programme will recreate a relaxed evening with Greene and his circle, featuring instrumental and vocal music by Greene, Bononcini, Festing, Hebden, Handel and more!