Farnham Festival Premiere

18/01/09

Rehearsals are now underway for my new work 'A Pilgrim's Tale' which will be premiered on the opening night of the 2009 Farnham Festival by Young Musicians from Weydon, Wavell and Heath End Schools in Farnham, Surrey.

I have been so impressed with the way that the students have responded to the piece so far - and I am really excited about putting the whole piece together over the next few weeks.

Each school has it's own specific role during the piece and is featured separately. However, there are also sections (notably at the beginning and the end of the piece) which bring the three ensembles together.

The piece tells the story of a modern day pilgrim/traveller who is retracing the steps of past travellers and pilgrims by walking along the old ‘Pilgrim’s Way’ route from Stonehenge to Canterbury. This, and other ancient routes, meet at a crossroads in Farnham and it is there that the pilgrim arrives one morning and decides to spend the day.

Meeting up with some local residents, he enthrals them with tales of the different types of people that must have travelled through Farnham over the centuries, and what they might have encountered there.

The three tales are drawn from real events that took place in Farnham and each tale features an important local building: St Andrew’s Church, Waverley Abbey and Farnham Castle. The people passing through are fictitious, although based on people who might have travelled through Farnham at that time.

For more information, please visit
http://www.farnhamfestival.org.uk/index.htm