Organised in collaboration with Father Ian Forrester, the Priest-In-Charge at Boxgrove Priory, there will be four events over the course of the three days: Choral Evensong, Sung Compline, Sung Eucharist and a Festival Concert. The festival´s resident choir, The Beaufort Singers, comprises top quality young musicians who will be staying with hosts from the Priory´s congregation and surrounding area, the idea being that the festival has a uniquely intimate atmosphere with the local community at the very centre of everything we do. We have worked hard to come up with a musical programme that is accessible, yet also a little bit different, with a particular focus on introducing the audience to some contemporary music which they might otherwise never hear. We are delighted to be singing works by young composers (and members of the choir!) Owain Park and Piers Kennedy, as well as establishing a connection with local composer Neil Cox.

What we'll deliver:

• An opportunity to experience beautiful choral singing of the highest quality
• An opportunity to hear contemporary music, in particular the work of local composer Neil Cox
• An opportunity for children and young adults to hear Classical Music for free
• An opportunity for local businesses to profit since the festival will attract visitors/tourists from further afield
• An opportunity for the community to come together at the end of the Bank Holiday weekend

Why it's a great idea:

This inaugural Boxgrove Choral Festival promises to be really exciting, both in terms of the musical offering and in terms of being a lovely event for the community to come together as the summer draws to a close. Our vision is that this is a festival will happen on an annual basis in West Sussex. Some longer-term goals include encompassing other art forms alongside choral music within the festival, establishing an outreach project for children, putting on a ´Come and Sing´ for anyone to come along and learn a new musical work during one afternoon, and collaborating with local music groups/choral societies. As we hope you can appreciate, we don´t want to bite off more than we can chew at this stage and quality, rather than quantity, is our priority. The compact yet exciting programme for this year, therefore, is guaranteed to be popular and we would be delighted to have your support - the arts are so important and we must keep them thriving and accessible to anyone & everyone!

Steps to get it done:

• Distributing posters/flyers in the Boxgrove area
• Rehearsing with the musicians singing in the Boxgrove Choral Festival
• Arranging accommodation with local hosts from the area
• Ordering and printing music
• Creating a Festival Brochure which contains the programme, information about the music/performers, and advertisements

If you would like to hear recordings of The Beaufort Singers, the festival’s resident choir, to get a sample of what is in store, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/beaufortrecordings If you would like to ask any questions, please email Susie on beaufortsingers@gmail.com.