EDINGTON Arts is kicking off the 2022 season a little differently this year by offering a choral workshop that doesn’t need you to be able to sight read, read music and it doesn’t even matter what part you sing!
Edington Arts is hosting a half-day plainchant workshop in the Priory Church on Saturday 12th March starting at 2.30pm and finishing with Compline at 6.30pm.
The workshop will be led by Peter Stevens, the assistant master of music at Westminster Cathedral – though in Wiltshire he may be better known as the director of the Edington Festival Schola, the specialist plainsong choir. He is one of the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic practitioners of what is the forerunner of modern musical notation, sung at services from the Middle Ages, and which would have been perfectly familiar to the monks in the Priory Church in the 14th and 15th century.
Peter will give a bit of background to plainchant, how it works, and will teach the chants for Compline, which will then be sung in the church at 6.30pm. As the Compline chants are relatively straightforward, he may also bring some which are more developed for singers to get their teeth into. Organisers are hoping that some of the regular Festival Schola members will be able to join in to provide a bit of practical support and encouragement – this may after all be an entirely new experience for many.
The cost for the half day is only £10, including music and mid-afternoon refreshments; £5 for students in full time education or training. There will be tea and cake at 5.30pm, for a small donation, to which friends and family are warmly welcomed, before Compline at 6.30pm.
To apply, please email anne@edingtonarts.org, or visit the website at www.edingtonarts.org where you can download the form.
