Leith Hill Musical Festival
Bringing choirs together
for competitions and concerts in Dorking since 1905
Registered charity number 275176
The main choral competitions take place at the three-day Festival in April, when the twelve Member Choirs compete in three Divisions. The competitions fill the mornings and are judged by professional adjudicators in accordance with descriptors recommended by the British and International Federation of Festivals.
Marks are given out of 100 as follows:
The seven different classes in which the choirs compete are shown on the Competitions page, but in respect of the marks awarded it should be noted that sometimes there are two 'full chorus' works on one day, which both need to be prepared and rehearsed for the evening concert. In these cases, a separate mark out of 100 is given for the extract(s) from each work.
There are usually two adjudicators sharing the classes between them and for 2017 they were:-
At the Youth Choirs' Competition in March, the choirs perform in age categories. Each choir performs two songs of their choice and, after hearing all performances in their category, the adjudicator will give constructive comments before announcing the winner of the category. The marking system is the same as above. In addition, there is an 'adjudicator's choice' for most categories awarded for that special 'other factor': this may be music choice or special performance and is given to encourage performing as opposed to winning.
The Youth Choirs' adjudicator for 2017 was Marcus Pashley, Director of Music at Cranleigh School.