About us
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Leith Hill Music Festival is a competitive choral festival for amateur choirs in the Surrey area, founded in 1905 by Lady Evangeline Farrer and Margaret Vaughan Williams, whose famous brother, the composer Ralph, was Festival Conductor for nearly fifty years. Each year around five hundred singers take part over two days.
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The main Festival takes place over two days in the middle of April, at Dorking Halls. The Halls were opened in 1931 to house the Festival and Ralph Vaughan Williams was an influential figure in raising funds for its construction.
There are currently two ‘divisions’. Each division has one day which is self-contained: choirs compete in the morning, bury the hatchet at lunchtime, then rehearse together with the Festival Conductor in the afternoon ready for the evening’s concert. The term ‘division’ is historical and division numbers are not indicative of talent, nor do the divisions compete against each other.
In March, there is a performance of a major choral work such as Bach’s St John Passion, Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Handel’s Messiah and Verdi’s Requiem. There are specific rehearsals for these performances and many independent singers (i.e. those who do not sing regularly with an LHMF choir) take part.
We have previously held a Youth Choirs’ Competition in March, open to school and youth choirs. We would love to revive this element of the festival if a suitable volunteer could be found to organise this.
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The Leith Hill Music Festival is fortunate to have a long history of prestigious festival conductors. Originally headed by Ralph Vaughan Williams for many years, and more recently Brian Kay (now the Festival’s President), Jonathan Willcocks and currently Neil Ferris.
The Festival Conductor has a pivotal role in leading the festival including choosing the music for the spring concert, the festival concert plus the competitions along with other members of our distinguished Music Committee. They conduct the March concert and the evening performances of the April Festival and take several rehearsals leading up to these events.
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There are three Combined Rehearsals for each division in advance of the April Festival. These are held on Saturdays/Sundays, and last for just under two hours for each division. All choir members taking part in the Festival are expected to attend. This is the Festival Conductor's opportunity to prepare the choirs for the combined choirs’ performances on the evenings of the Festival. It is also an opportunity for Festival organisers to speak directly to all the singers and is an important part of preparations for the Festival.
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The Festival is affiliated to the British and International Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech and is a member of Making Music.
Our professionals
The day-to-day organisation of the Festival depends upon a group of volunteers dedicated to the Festival's motto 'Music Won The Cause'. However, the leadership, guidance and support of a team of top professional musicians, also dedicated to maintaining and improving upon the legacy of Vaughan Williams and other forerunners of the present day, enable us to present concerts to a professional standard.
The quality of our music-making is in safe hands with our Festival Conductor, Jonathan Willcocks, and our President, Brian Kay, ably assisted by the other musicians who work with us, and details of whom may be found by clicking on the links below.
The professional musicians who, between them, not only lead their choirs in their own programmes but also prepare them through many rehearsals for their annual day of competition and concert at the Festival, are an intrinsic and highly valued part of our organisation. Jonathan Willcocks conducts the evening concerts and is always fulsome in his thanks to the Choir Conductors. The above are ably supported by their accompanists. The Festival is most grateful to them all.
President
Brian Kay
We are extremely fortunate to have the multi-talented and experienced musician Brian Kay as our president.
As Conductor from 1996 to 2016, he lead the Festival with infectious enthusiasm, so much so that all who worked with him shared the great joy of music-making.
Brian is also a member of the Festival's Music Committee.
Festival Conductor
Neil Ferris
Neil Ferris was appointed as Conductor for the 2025 Festival. He is also Chorus Director of the BBC Symphony Chorus and Artistic Director and Conductor of the professional chamber choir Sonoro.
In demand as guest conductor at some of the finest choirs in the UK, Neil has worked with the BBC Singers, Choir of the Age of Enlightenment, London Voices, the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, and the National Youth Choir of Wales.
Orchestras that Neil has conducted include London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Welsh National Opera, London Mozart Players, City of London Sinfonia and Orchestra of the Swan. As a teacher, Neil has led masterclasses in the UK at the Royal Academy of Music, Royal Welsh Conservatoire of Music and Drama, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, University of Birmingham, and abroad in the USA, Ireland, Denmark, China, Malaysia and Singapore.
Orchestra
Canzona
Canzona was formed in 1992 and comprises some of this country’s leading players of period instruments. The versatility of its director, Theresa Caudle, who plays both the violin and cornett, creates the stimulus for a flexible line-up of wind and string instruments and many of Canzona’s concerts are as a chamber group. The players of Canzona have a particular passion for 17th century music, but whatever they are playing, from Monteverdi to Mozart, they make every effort to play on appropriate instruments for the period.
Canzona is frequently expanded to orchestral proportions and has performed with many outstanding conductors and choirs including Polyphony and the Holst Singers (conducted by Stephen Layton). Canzona continues to have a long-standing association with several choirs including the Leith Hill Music Festival, the Somerset Chamber Choir, and the Bristol Bach Choir. Choral works performed include J. S. Bach's St. John & St. Matthew Passions and Magnificat; C .P. E. Bach’s Magnificat; Handel's Messiah; Monteverdi's Vespers and music by Purcell and de Lalande.
Orchestra
Southern Pro Musica
Southern Pro Musica evolved from the need for a professional orchestra to provide support for choirs based in Hampshire and West Sussex. The availability of increasing numbers of fine free-lance musicians choosing to base their careers in the south enabled the orchestra to enlarge its area of operations to work with choral societies further afield and also to undertake purely orchestral engagements. The orchestra’s first concert performance was given in Portsmouth Guildhall in August 1991.
In 1992 the orchestra was invited by the Southern Orchestral Concerts Society to become the resident chamber orchestra for its annual concert series based at Petersfield Festival Hall. In this series it performed with many distinguished national and international soloists, including in recent years Alison Balsom (trumpet), Natalie Clein (cello), Michaela Petri (recorder) Nicholas Daniel (oboe) and Antje Weithaas (violin). In an exciting further development, in 2013 Southern Pro Musica was appointed by Guildford Borough Council as their ‘principal provider of Classical music’, providing a broad range of orchestral concerts and educational outreach work in Guildford.
Accompanist
Alan Brown
Alan studied piano and cello with Ruth Harte and Lilly Phillips at the Royal Academy of Music, gaining the prestigious Recital Diploma.
As well as solo recitals in the UK and abroad, Alan has a repertoire of over thirty-five concertos, including several twentieth century British works, and has played with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, the Virtuosi of England and other orchestras, working frequently with Arthur Davison. He is also in great demand as duo partner to wind and string players, both here and in Germany. He has performed the complete cycle of Beethoven violin and piano sonatas with Igor Ozim in Slovenia.
Alan works as accompanist and coach at both the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and has a regular summer commitment to international violin courses, working with Igor Ozim in Weimar, Salzburg and Slovenia.