A Worthy Performance

The beautiful sound of 180 children performing with a professional choir and sinfonia filled Worth Abbey in Crawley recently. 

The children from St Andrews CofE Primary School, The Mill Primary Academy, and Holy Trinity CofE Secondary School, together with members of the Glyndebourne Chorus and Glyndebourne Sinfonia, performed songs they had composed, as well as movements from Handel’s Messiah. 

The performance was the culmination of workshops that had been organised and run by Glyndebourne, a partner of Sussex Music Hub. 

Under the watchful eye of Howard Moody, Glyndebourne’s Artistic Lead and composer, and ably assisted by workshop leaders Rhiannon Llewellyn and Andrew Davies, students from all three schools composed their own songs, which they performed at the event on Thursday 4 December. 

St. Andrew’s composed Finding A Way Out which focussed on the darkness of life but how lives can be changed for the better, The Mill wrote Bright Clear Waters which advocated for a calmer, peaceful world, and Holy Trinity created We Shall Arise a song that celebrated the power of food and faith! 

James Underwood, Chief Executive for West Sussex Music, said: “I’m indebted to the education team at Glyndebourne for bringing this wonderful opportunity to Crawley schools.  The impact on everyone who took part in the project has been immense. The students will always remember the experience of singing the premiere of their composition at Worth Abbey with the Glyndebourne Chorus!” 

This is the third year the event has taken place, organised by Glyndebourne and facilitated by West Sussex Music.  

For more information on upcoming events for schools in West Sussex, go here.