Mercurius is a young and innovative group which specialises in the performance and research of the Early Music, embracing in its repertoire works from the Baroque and Classical periods. Its young members had first met at the Royal Academy of Music while postgraduate students and develop intense solo careers along with their chamber and orchestral work.

The group gathers young musicians, recently graduated in some of the leading schools in Britain, representing thus a suitable environment for the continuing development of their artistic abilities. Mercurius functions as a co-operative where musicians, singers and dancers have a unique opportunity to work closely and exchange views and experiences, creating an exciting and rich melting pot for artistic production. The experience of reuniting art forms as they were conceived in the Baroque period, when instrumental & vocal music and dance could not be dissociated, is largely supported. Similarly, we base our research on the Expression of Passions and the comprehension of rhetorical speech and its importance in that period.

Mercurius comprises instrumental and vocal ensembles as well as a Baroque Dance Company. Mercurius performs on period instruments in order to bring out the musicality of each period involved. A rich, varied continuo section supports the instrumental section, which includes wind, brass and bowed string instruments. The parameters for the performance are those inherited from musicians and musicologist from the 17^th and 18^th centuries. In adopting "historically informed" performances Mercurius aims to revive the sounds and aesthetics from the past, combining a clear and bright performance technique with the utmost and extreme expression of the Passions, a constant concern during the baroque period.

Mercurius reflects the musical and choreographic research of its director Ricardo Barros, a young revelation in the early music field and one of the few to conciliate an artistic and academic career as a harpsichordist, dancer and choreographer.