Dear friend and supporter of the East Sussex Bach Choir

 

On March 29th 2025, the East Sussex Bach Choir will be performing Bach’s magnificent St Matthew Passion with Kantorei Hochrhein from Waldshut-Tiengen, one of Lewes’s Twin Towns. This occasion marks the ongoing strong musical affinity between our two choirs and is supported by our respective Twinning Associations. The concert will be held in the beautiful Assembly Room in Lewes Town Hall.

 

Linked to this performance is a project involving associated satellite events open to the public:

•Two concerts of the Bach Cello Suites over two nights, February 26th and 27th, by the OAE lead cellist Sebastian Comberti, with an accompanying talk by Lord Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, on the Bach and the Passions.

•A talk, on March 6th, by the Reverend Richard Coles, Cleric, Broadcaster, Writer & former Communard reflecting on Bach and the St Matthew Passion.

•On March 13th, there will be a panel discussion on the challenges of performing the St Matthew Passion, with Sir John Tomlinson, who sings the role of Christus in our performance in March, John Hancorn, music director of ESBC, and Alison Bury, director of The Baroque Collective and founder member of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. The discussion will be chaired by writer and broadcaster, Richard Wigmore.

All of these events will take place in St Michael's Church, Lewes High Street at 7.00PM.

 

In addition, we are working closely with local primary and secondary schools to bring the music of Bach and especially that of the St Matthew Passion to their students. Our collaboration involves directly supporting groups in schools to learn more about Bach and the Passion. We will also welcome these groups and other students from local schools to join rehearsals to learn and appreciate how musicians and singers collaborate to produce a performance of a one of the greatest works in the classical repertoire. We hope that by sharing our expertise in, and love for, this wonderful music, young people may develop real enthusiasm for it and enrich their musical knowledge.

 

You will appreciate that such an ambitious venture involves a considerable financial outlay, so we are seeking support to offset our costs and make this a memorable occasion for the town of Lewes. To help us raise funds for this project, we have established a crowdfunding page on JustGiving. We would be very grateful if you would like to make a contribution towards this by clicking here or pasting the following into your browser:

​ https://www.justgiving.com/page/esbc?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fesbc&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share

 

All help is welcome, no matter how small, and please do consider adding your details for Gift Aid - this makes a significant difference. All contributions will go directly to supporting the concert, the events and the work with young people. And, of course, we look forward to seeing you at the concert on March 29th, and at one or more of the very special events in the run-up to the concert. Tickets for all events Thank you for your support.

 

Mike Dawney, Chair, ESBC

Jannine Jones, Treasurer

Helen Britton, Fundraising Coordinator