LEWISBURG — Red Priest will perform “Nightmare in Venice — A Halloween Fantasy” on Friday at 8 p.m. in the Weis Center at Bucknell University. Tickets are $20.

“Just in time for Halloween, this lively and exceptional group is presenting ‘some of the most shocking music of the Baroque era’ according to the group’s website,” said Bill Boswell, executive director of the Weis Center. The music includes appropriate pieces — Tartini’s “Devil’s Trill” sonata, Leclair’s “Demon Airs” and Red Priest’s own Fantasia on Corelli’s “La Folia.”

“This group is widely-known for presenting Baroque music as the popular ‘rock music’ of its day. They are daring and fun and they bring this great music alive with performances that are not the usual staid, reverential affairs,” adds Boswell. “This group reminds us that this music was the popular music of the 17th century, played and enjoyed by everybody.”

Founded in 1997 and assuming the nickname of the famous flame-haired priest and composer, Antonio Vivaldi, Red Priest has given hundreds of sold-out concerts around the world. It has been featured at many of the world’s most prestigious festivals, including the Hong Kong Arts, l, Moscow December Nights, Schwetzingen, Prague Spring, Ravinia, and Bermuda festivals and throughout most of Europe, Japan, Australia, North and Central America.

the repertoire ranges from obscure 17th-century sonatas to the most famous works of Bach and Vivaldi. Red Priest is the only early music group in the world to have been compared in the press to the Rolling Stones, Jackson Pollock, the Marx Brothers, Spike Jones, and the Cirque du Soleil.

In its regular line-up Red Priest comprises recorder player Piers Adams, violinist Julia Bishop, cellist Angela East and harpsichordist Howard Beach. For most North American tours since 2006 the group has collaborated with the Canadian baroque/Cape-Breton violinist David Greenberg in place of Julia Bishop.

Tickets for this Weis Center series performance are available at the Campus Box Office in the Weis Center weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., or the Bucknell University Bookstore, by calling 577-1000. The box office in the Weis Center lobby opens one hour prior to performances.