Choral music features prominently this month in Dorking, with the three-day Leith Hill Musical Festival at Dorking Halls.
This year’s Leith Hill Festival is the final one for Brian Kay, the festival conductor for the past 21 years, so it will be a very special occasion for him and also for the hundreds of singers who have enjoyed rehearsals and concerts under his baton.
For his final three festival concerts, the main works are:
- Haydn’s Harmoniemesse & Vaughan Williams’ beautiful Serenade to Music – April 14
- Schubert’s Mass in G and Purcell’s Come ye sons of art away – April 15
- Grand finale: Verdi’s magnificent and monumental Requiem – April 16
If you haven’t already got your tickets for the last night, I’m sorry but it was sold out long ago! Don't worry, thought – there's other classical music elsewhere in the area. Check below.
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Dorking Halls
- There are several live screenings at the Dorking Halls this month - Giselle from the Royal Ballet and Don Quixote from the Bolshoi ballet, plus Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor (with its famous ‘mad scene’) from the Royal Opera.
- Giselle screening from the Royal Ballet, April 6 at 7.15pm, £17.50
- Don Quixote screening from the Bolshoi Ballet, April 10 at 4pm, £17.50
- Lucia di Lammermoor opera screening, April 25 at 7.15pm, £17.50
The Orchestra of the Swan appears at the Dorking Halls, in a concert presented by the Dorking Concertgoers. The programme includes two cello concertos – Haydn’s concerto in C and Vivaldi’s double cello concerto. The theme of the concert is ‘Arrivals and departures’ and this is reflected in Handel’s music for The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba and Haydn’s Farewell symphony. The conductor, David Curtis, will also give a pre-concert talk at 6.45.
- Orchestra of the Swan, April 9 at 7.30pm, £14-29, 01306 740619
- Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, April 21 at 8pm, £26.50
Ashtead Choral Society’s concert at Dorking Halls features English music, with Elgar’s beautiful and elegiac cello concerto, Britten’s brilliant piece written for children, The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, and Michael Tippett’s very personal and moving oratorio A Child of Our Time.
- Ashtead Choral Society, April 30 at 7.30pm, £16-20, 07504 332354
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Watermill Jazz
Pixham Lane, Dorking, RH4 1QAWatermill Jazz meets every Thursday evening at the Aviva Social Club. Each week there is a different group of talented performers from the world of jazz, so there's always something to look forward to. This months performers are as follows:
- The Freddie Gaveta Quintet with the music of Clifford Brown, April 7 at 8.30pm, £18-20
- The Corrie Dick Band of Joy featuring Ed Begley, April 14 at 8.30pm, £18-20
- Alan Barnes, Gilad Atzmon and the Lowest Common Denominator, April 21 at 8.30pm, £18-20
- The Mark Nightingale Big Band, April 28 at 8.30pm, £18-20
Please note that in May, Watermill Jazz will move to Betchworth Park Golf Club and will also change to Tuesday evenings.
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St Mary Magdalene Church - South Holmwood
The Food of Love is the title of a concert given by Hexachordia to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare‘s death. Hexachordia is a trio dedicated to the performance of Elizabethan music, using contemporary instruments such as lutes, recorders, viols and virginals.
- Hexachordia, April 16 at 7pm, £10, 01306 888922
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