A message from the festival’s director Dr Joan Royle:
 

After the success of last year’s festival our thoughts turn to this year’s events. There will be another full festival in 2027, this year there are two main events.

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The Astatine Trio, piano, violin and cello, are returning to give a recital in Ripe church on 19th June. Formed in 2021, they are quickly gaining recognition as one of the UK’s most exciting young chamber ensembles. Named BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists for 2025-27, they were recently second prize and special prize winners at the 2025 Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition in Graz – becoming the first UK-based ensemble to win a main prize in the competition’s history.

 

Sisters Berniya (piano) and Riya (cello) Hamie with Maya Horvat (violin) will play an exciting contemporary piece by the Canadian composer, Kelly-Marie Murphy, called ‘Give Me Phoenix Wings To Fly', followed by Mendelssohn’s Trio number 1, and Beethoven’s Archduke Trio. Ripe church has undergone renovations to the ceiling and walls and is looking beautiful; it has a wonderful acoustic for chamber music. Tickets will be available online from April.

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The second event will be an ever-popular jazz evening in the gardens of Limekiln Farm, Chalvington with a big band and plenty of swing, during the first week in August. The final details of this event will be posted soon. Bring your own picnic and enjoy a summer’s evening entertainment in a beautiful garden! There may also be a film showing in the newly refurbished Village Hall in Ripe in the autumn.
 
We are, as ever, most grateful to our sponsors, without whom the Festival could not continue, and to all the volunteers,  trustees and committee members who help in so many different ways. There are no paid members of staff in the charity. Last year we were able to award grants to local musical and performing arts organisations; to the Laughton Village Choir, the Lilly Lovett Theatre group, Laughton CP School, Ripe Nursery, the PCC of Laughton, Ripe and Chalvington to support music in the churches, and the Collectiva project, a new artistic enterprise. We are grateful, too, to our patrons, Dame Felicity Lott, and to Richard Morrison, who writes so eloquently about the importance of musical and artistic projects in the grass roots of our Society.
 
Please watch this space as more information becomes available and come and support our events. You are assured of a warm welcome.

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Joan RoyleDirector
Villages Music Festival
March 2026