FROM 3PM - 5.30PM
TICKETS £10 INCLUDING TEA
CHILDREN 11 AND UNDER HALF PRICE
FROM 3PM - 5.30PM
TICKETS £10 INCLUDING TEA
CHILDREN 11 AND UNDER HALF PRICE
2025 VILLAGES MUSIC FESTIVAL DATES 28TH JUNE-6TH JULY, COMMENCING WITH A PERFORMANCE OF PUCCINI’S ‘LA BOHEME’.
Sunday 27th June
Finale
FINALE CONCERT
St John The Baptist Church
Ripe
BN8 6AU
PERFORMANCE AT 6.00 PM
TICKETS £15. FULL-TIME STUDENTS FREE
DRINKS AFTER PERFORMANCE
Carl Nielsen Ved en ung Kunstners Baare (At the bier of a young artist)
Benjamin Britten Serenade for tenor, horn and piano
Mozart Rondo from Horn Concerto No 4 in E flat
Vivaldi Gloria
Olivia Hemmings - soprano
Francesca Calvert - mezzo soprano
Paul Martyn-West - tenor
Jonathan Farey - French horn
Will Hancox - piano,
Clockhouse Singers, Conductor Linda Glenn
and the Caspian String Quartet;
Elizabeth McConkey - violin,
Anna Szabo - violin
Maritza Bulcock - viola
Simon Wagland - cello.
Linda Glenn MA and The Clockhouse Singers
Linda Glenn MA, choral trainer and animateur, conductor and singing teacher.
Linda trains and conducts a mixed ensemble of up to 16 singers from the local area that meets on Thursday mornings to sing a cappella close harmony, both classical and light. The group started as a group of mothers who got together after dropping off their children at school, called ‘Clockhouse’ as they met in the old Clockhouse at Forest Row. Now older and wiser, and with a few additions, they have come together with joy after a long pause to prepare this performance of the Vivaldi Gloria.
Olivia Hemmings
Olivia is a Sussex born soprano currently studying with Pippa Dames-Longworth. She graduated in 2019 with BMus (hons) from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) where she studied with Helen Lawson.
As a member of Pippa Dames-Longworth’s ‘Singing Salon’ she has performed in multiple concerts including scenes from The Marriage of Figaro (Cherubino), Candide (Cunegonde), L'incoronazione di Poppea (Nero), Alcina (Alcina) and Dido and Aeneas (Dido). In addition, she performed scenes from Così fan Tutte (Dorabella) with RCS. She took part in a Baroque Obbligato Course during which she worked with Howard Beach and Julia Bishop and performed in a Lieder course with Adrian Thompson. Olivia sang the role of Bird-Girl, a small role in an imaginatively devised production of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel which was performed at the world-renowned Charleston House and Gardens. Her Oratorio performances include Fauré’s Requiem, Handel’s Israel in Egypt and Bach’s Magnificat.
In addition to her work as a singer she works for The Music in Secondary Schools Trust a charity that delivers a classical music curriculum to schools with a disadvantaged intake. She is passionate about making classical music tuition accessible to all children across the country.
Francesca Calvert
Bio to come
Paul Martyn-West
Paul Martyn-West studied singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at the Royal Academy of Music, London. After gaining an Entrance Foundation Scholarship to the R.A.M., he went on to win a number of prestigious prizes including the Major van Someren-Godfrey Prize for English Song, the Elena Gerhardt Lieder Prize, the Grisi Mario Prize and Robert Alva Memorial Prize. Concurrently, he was awarded an L.R.A.M. and a Certificate of Advanced Studies.
In 1992, Paul gained a Masters Degree (with Distinction) in Music Performance at City University, London ( his main thesis being “The Musico-Literary Development of E.J. Moeran’s Published Solo Songs and his second thesis describing “The Significance of the Falsetto Function in Voice Production”). He was awarded the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers Prize for Musical Excellence and later went on to study with the distinguished singing teacher and pedagogue, Cornelius Reid, in New York, London and Frankfurt.
Paul regularly sings as a recitalist in programmes of English Song and Lieder, throughout Britain. Engagements have taken him to the USA, Germany and the Republic of Ireland. He has sung for the English Poetry and Song Society and has judged new competition songs. He has also performed for the Ivor Gurney Society, the Peter Warlock Society and, more recently, the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society and has been the dedicatory of a number of works by such composers as Andrew Campling, Margaret Wegener and Geoffrey Stern. ( In 2005, Paul recorded a CD of music by Stern, Warlock and Moeran on the Divine Art label).
Paul’s oratorio repertoire includes the tenor parts in Haydn’s “Creation”, “ The Seasons” and various Masses; Handel’s “Messiah”; Bach’s “St John” and “St Matthew” Passions, “Magnificat” and “Christmas Oratorio”; Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” and “Hymn of Praise”; Mozart’s “Requiem”; Bruckner’s “Te Deum”; Janaceks’s “Otcenas”; Orff’s “Carmina Burana” (Tenor and Baritone parts), and Britten’s “St Nicholas”.
A number of Paul’s compositions have been performed by the London Dockland Singers, Thames Chamber Choir, City Chamber Choir and The City of Ely Military Band. He has also contributed an article to the “Church Music Quarterly” and a chapter to Cornelius Reid’s 90th birthday book, “The Modern Singing Master” ( 2002). Paul has also conducted major choral works at day-workshops for various choral societies.
A member of the Association of Teachers of Singing, Paul runs an extensive private teaching practice in London and teaches singing to students at Colfe’s School, SE London.
Jonathan Farey
Jonathan completed a Masters at the Royal Academy of Music with first class honours and an undergraduate in Maths and Music at Cardiff University. He enjoys a busy freelance career, having recently performed with the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra.
Jonathan has a growing portfolio of recordings - most recently, highlights include discs with the BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, and a television and cinema release for the Royal Opera House’s ‘Romeo and Juliet: Beyond Words’. He has also performed live on BBC Radio, and as part of the BBC Proms.
Jonathan has a huge passion for chamber music and performs regularly with the European Union Chamber Orchestra, and his wind quintet, the Magnard Ensemble. The Magnards have been on young artist programmes for the Tillett Trust and Tunnell Trust, and have recently completed a residency at Snape Maltings. They have also performed on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ programme, and across the world at venues including the Wigmore Hall, KKL Lucerne and Bridgewater Hall. Away from the wind quintet repertoire, Jonathan has recently performed Schubert’s ‘Auf dem Strom’ alongside Ailish Tynan and Simon Lepper at the Lake Summer Music Festival.
Will Hancox
William Hancox has always had wide-ranging musical interests including solo playing, chamber music, duo work and vocal coaching.
He has performed at major halls in numerous countries, held staff pianist posts at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Trinity College of Music and premiered contemporary works at the Cheltenham Festival and London's South Bank.
Recordings include the complete voice and piano works of the Icelandic composer Jon Asgeirsson, contemporary violin and cello sonatas (with international cello virtuoso Rohan de Saram), the complete Morike songs of Hugo Wolf and a disc of classical lullabies with Austrian soprano Esther Levin. William has broadcast for the BBC and Classic FM. He was educated at Cambridge, subsequently studying with the Hungarian pianist Joseph Weingarten, himself a student of Dohnanyi, Bartok and Kodaly.
THE CASPIAN QUARTET
Elizabeth McConkey - Violin
Elizabeth began learning the violin at the age of 13 and went on to study with Jaroslav Vanecek at the Royal College of Music.
She chose to pursue a freelance career in London working mostly with the BBC Symphony and the Royal Opera House orchestras as well as being a member of Glyndebourne Touring Opera and Garsington Opera orchestras.
The past year has been a very quiet time for most musicians, but it has enabled Elizabeth to work on other creative projects and to rediscover her love of chamber music.
Anna Szabó - Violin
Anna started to learn the violin at the age of five with Elizabeth Turnbull and continued with Russian soloist Lydia Mordkovitch at 14 and then went to RNCM at 16 to continue her studies with Lydia there.
Anna then went on to learn with Yossi Zivoni and gained a distinction in her professional performance exam at the end of college. 7 years in the Hallé orchestra followed before motherhood beckoned, blessing 3 children.
Anna then went on to freelance in London enjoying a hugely varied work repertoire spanning a long standing connection to Jazz with Guy Barker, and gypsy jazz to orchestral; BBC Concert orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, English National Ballet, many film recordings and a few west end shows (Les Miserables / Caroline or Change).
Anna lives in forest row and enjoys teaching, playing string quartets and other chamber music, orchestral music, and recording sessions for films, television, etc.
Maritza Bulcock - Viola
Maritza studied viola at Trinity College of Music, London and the Academy of Performing Arts, Prague. Chamber music has always been her focus and passion; viola duets, viola quartets, duets, trios but most of all String Quartets and their incredible repertoire. Maritza enjoys exploring different genres of music from the standard classical repertoire to jazz, dance inspired music, folk and contemporary. She aims to inspire her students in her teaching with a love of exploration of the new and always learns something new in the annual pilgrimage to the Endellion Festival.
Simon Wagland - Cello
Simon studied at Trinity College of Music, London. His freelance career has included principal cello with the D’oyly Carte and Carl Rosa Opera Companies and Moscow Ballet tours, as well as a long term residency with his piano trio at the Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly.
