Competitions

The Leith Hill Musical Festival has competitive elements that form a significant part of the proceedings both at the three-day Festival in April, shared by the Member Choirs, and for Youth Choirs on their day in March.

The twelve Member Choirs are divided into three Divisions (solely for logistical purposes) so that on each of the days over 200 singers in a Division come together to compete in the mornings. Professional adjudicators comment on and mark their performances. The choirs then complete the day by rehearsing and performing together.

The whole day takes place at the Dorking Halls and the competitions run from 9am until about 1pm, are open to the public and comprise seven different classes:

• full chorus (choirs sing extracts from major works to be performed at the evening concerts)
• madrigal
• part song
• men's song
• women's song

These five classes each have their own prizes, but their marks are also added together to give an overall 'winning choir' for each day.  There are two further classes which do not count towards this aggregate:

• ensembles - each choir can field up to three ensembles (small groups of up to twelve singers)
• own choice - a piece under four minutes, chosen by each choir

At the end of the three days, two further prizes are awarded:

• for the highest mark given in all classes during the three days
• for the best madrigal performance