| Leith Hill Music Festival | |
|---|---|
| Choir | |
 | |
| Former name | Leith Hill Musical Competition (until 1950)[1] |
| Origin | Dorking, Surrey |
| Founded | 1905 |
| Founder | Margaret Vaughan Williams and Lady Evangeline Farrer |
| Genre | Choral |
| Members | Choral Societies |
| President | Brian Kay |
| Chief conductor | Jonathan Willcocks |
| Headquarters | Dorking |
| Concert hall | Dorking Halls |
| Influences | Ralph Vaughan Williams |
| Website | lhmf |
The Leith Hill Music Festival (LHMF) was founded in 1905 by Margaret Vaughan Williams,[2] sister of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Lady (Evangeline) Farrer, wife of Lord Farrer of Abinger Hall. Ralph Vaughan Williams was the festival conductor from 1905 to 1953. The present festival conductor is Jonathan Willcocks (appointed in June 2016).[3]
The musical festival consists of various independent choral societies or choirs who are member choirs and therefore comes together under the organisation of the Festival to perform the concerts and competition for each season. A season starts in mid March and includes the mid-March concert of J. S. Bach's St Matthew, St John Passion or Handel's Messiah (latest addition), then a Youth Competition and the main Festival usually in first week of April but definitely avoiding Easter if it falls in April. Currently (as of 2017), there are 12 choirs in the group which is split in 3 divisions for competitions and concerts over the Festival.
The festival is competitive, lasting three days, each day with a different division of choirs; each evening the choirs who have competed during the day combine to give a concert of the main works which form the subject of the competitions. Following the tradition established by Vaughan Williams, the festival performs a mid-March concert of the Passions by J.S. Bach alternate years as a taster and build up to the main festival and competition in early April. Handel's Messiah and Bach's B Minor Mass have also been added. The present chorus master for these concerts is Ben Costello, appointed in 2014. These concerts are open to the public as singers at a fee and rehearsals are held in Dorking, the traditional home of the Festival.
- ^ Corke 2005, p. 14
- ^ "Famous Residents & Visitors". St James Church Abinger Common. St James Church Abinger Common. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
- ^ "Leith Hill Music Festival: About us". Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.