The Beaconsfield Festival of Choirs is a non-competitive choral festival. All choirs of every level of experience are welcome, in the spirit of the Scandinavian Sangerstevne. There are four concerts during the day of the main festival, with normally 6 choirs performing in each concert.
Each choir performs a short set of songs, and forms the audience for the other choirs in their concert. At the end of the concert, all the choirs join together to perform a song or songs that has been sent to them in advance. There is a small admin charge of £5 each for each choir member.
The festival is hosted by the Village Voices (www.villagevoiceschoir.net) and the Seer Green Singers (www.seergreensingers.com), two community choirs based in Seer Green, just outside Beaconsfield. It is directed by Jane Smith, the choirs' musical director, and is held in the beautiful St Mary's Church, Beaconsfield.
In 2018 we were delighted to have commissioned a new song to be performed at the end of every concert. We Are One Voice has been written by the Scottish composer, Chris Hutchings, setting words by Euan Tait. It is energetic and exciting, and has been brilliantly written so that it can be performed by all the different types of choir taking part in the festival. For further information on the composer and the lyricist, see their websites:
http://www.hutchingsmusic.co.uk. http://euantait.com/
For 2020 we continued the tradition of supporting young composers, and commissioned Adam Saunders to write a new song for the festival. A setting of the Masefield poem, Sea Fever is an appealing and catchy setting of the classic poem, with the possibility of unison singing for the youngest performers, and a challenging and interesting harmonic language for the more experienced. The choirs loved it! For further information on Adam, see his website: https://adamsaundersmusic.com
For 2022 we were delighted to be using two songs written by choir directors. We opened the joint session by learning Ian Assersohn's Dona Nobis Pacem, as a reflection of our sadness about the war in Ukraine. Then we performed Do You Hear my Voice? by Mary Bourne, which expressed the joy we all felt at being able to sing together again.
For 2023 we commissioned another choir director, Timothy Allen, to write a song for us. 'You are welcome here' is thoughtful, with lyrics that are very fitting for our times. The music uses a harmonic language that is very satisfying to sing. We were very excited to premier it at the festival, and are sure that it will become a firm favourite in the choirs' repertoire.
Our most recent commission, for March 2024, was 'Trees' by Fiona Lander. This setting of the poem by Walter de la Mare was both catchy and reflective, and was hugely enjoyed by all of the choirs. There are recordings on the 2024 pages of this site of Fiona conducting the massed choirs at the end of each concert.
Each choir performs a short set of songs, and forms the audience for the other choirs in their concert. At the end of the concert, all the choirs join together to perform a song or songs that has been sent to them in advance. There is a small admin charge of £5 each for each choir member.
The festival is hosted by the Village Voices (www.villagevoiceschoir.net) and the Seer Green Singers (www.seergreensingers.com), two community choirs based in Seer Green, just outside Beaconsfield. It is directed by Jane Smith, the choirs' musical director, and is held in the beautiful St Mary's Church, Beaconsfield.
In 2018 we were delighted to have commissioned a new song to be performed at the end of every concert. We Are One Voice has been written by the Scottish composer, Chris Hutchings, setting words by Euan Tait. It is energetic and exciting, and has been brilliantly written so that it can be performed by all the different types of choir taking part in the festival. For further information on the composer and the lyricist, see their websites:
http://www.hutchingsmusic.co.uk. http://euantait.com/
For 2020 we continued the tradition of supporting young composers, and commissioned Adam Saunders to write a new song for the festival. A setting of the Masefield poem, Sea Fever is an appealing and catchy setting of the classic poem, with the possibility of unison singing for the youngest performers, and a challenging and interesting harmonic language for the more experienced. The choirs loved it! For further information on Adam, see his website: https://adamsaundersmusic.com
For 2022 we were delighted to be using two songs written by choir directors. We opened the joint session by learning Ian Assersohn's Dona Nobis Pacem, as a reflection of our sadness about the war in Ukraine. Then we performed Do You Hear my Voice? by Mary Bourne, which expressed the joy we all felt at being able to sing together again.
For 2023 we commissioned another choir director, Timothy Allen, to write a song for us. 'You are welcome here' is thoughtful, with lyrics that are very fitting for our times. The music uses a harmonic language that is very satisfying to sing. We were very excited to premier it at the festival, and are sure that it will become a firm favourite in the choirs' repertoire.
Our most recent commission, for March 2024, was 'Trees' by Fiona Lander. This setting of the poem by Walter de la Mare was both catchy and reflective, and was hugely enjoyed by all of the choirs. There are recordings on the 2024 pages of this site of Fiona conducting the massed choirs at the end of each concert.