The London Sangerstevne

What is a
Sangerstevne?

NEW!!

A Sangerstevne is a non-competitive choral festival for all choirs, large or small, sacred or secular.

FOR ALL CHOIRS. Sing pieces of your own choice before an audience of fellow choral singers, and members of the general public on Saturday 14 May. Register for May 2011 HERE.

FRIDAY AND SUNDAY. Apart from singing during the main festival on Saturday 14 May, choirs are offered the opportunity of singing for longer at other concerts during the evening of Friday 13 May and the afternoon of Sunday 15 May in other churches. Participating choirs may sing the same music in one of these concerts that they use during the main festival. Choirs which are not available for the main festival on the Saturday may wish to be part of one of the Friday or Sunday concerts.

ASSOCIATE CONCERTS. Choirs which cannot be involved in the weekend concerts due to other concerts may wish to be associated with the Sangerstevne. In such cases, their concert, along with other information, would be listed in the Sangerstevne programme, and that choir's association with the Sangerstevne would be acknowledged in their publicity.

The first London Sangerstevne was held in 2004. You can see the list of choirs from the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, and the UK which have sung at the festival via this LINK.

The sangerstevne concept has been borrowed from Norway, where sangerstevner are a big part of the choral calendar and are held at district, regional and national levels.

The London Sangerstevne has come of age and is now an independent organisation. Earlier festivals were supported and run by, firstly, the choir of St. John's Church, Leytonstone, and, secondly, by The Questors Choir, Ealing.

In 2011 there will be few overall changes and the basic structure and location will remain the same. However, two important innovations will take place.

A charge of £2 per singer will be made. This is so that proper attention may be made to such matters as performing rights, insurance, and appropriate entertainment licenses. However, each singer will get a full colour, glossy souvenir programme covering the whole festival .
Volunteers are needed to help run the Sangerstevne. These can vary between people who are committed to the Sangerstevne ideal and can be present during most of the festival Saturday and maybe help to host a concert on another day, to those who are willing to give a couple of hours help during the main festival.

All London based participating choirs will be asked (where possible) to nominate two of their members to help with stewarding the main festival for two or three hours. Find out more HERE.

It is hoped that these two changes will enable us to organise a Sangerstevne that is more satisfying for all participants.

When is the next
Sangerstevne?

Where will the next
Sangerstevne be held?

Friday 13 May, evening: concerts in various churches with the opportunity to perform a longer programme than at the main Saturday Festival. For those choirs who want to sing more.

Saturday 14 May, afternoon and evening: a series of drop-in concerts, ending with the two festival pieces. This is the main part of the Sangerstevne.

Sunday 15 May, afternoon: concerts in various churches with the opportunity to perform a longer programme than at the main Saturday Festival. For those choirs who want to sing more.

You can register for the 2011 Sangerstevne HERE.

The main event of each Sangerstevne is the Festival on the Saturday afternoon and evening. This will be held in St Matthew's Church, North Common Road, Ealing W5 2QA. Here is a map LINK to the area. The locations for the Friday and Sunday concerts will be in 2011.

How is the Sangerstevne
Organised?

How Much Will
it Cost?

Each participating choir performs a programme of their own choosing lasting up to 15 minutes in one of the four festival concerts on the Saturday (unless they have chosen not to come on this day). A grand piano is available for accompaniment.

All participating choirs have the opportunity to distribute their own promotional literature.

The festival is taking place in the church. Participating choirs will have an opportunity to use the church hall for warming up purposes during the period before their own concert. For example, choirs singing in Concert 2 will be able to use the hall whilst Concert 1 is in progress.

In keeping with the Sangerstevne tradition, a simple piece will be sung at the end of each Saturday concert by all singers who want to be involved in this. These pieces will be available from a few months before the Sangerstevne and can be sent by post or downloaded from the web site.

The concerts on the Friday and Sunday will be organised in a more traditional manner.

This year, for the first time, a charge of £2 per singer is being made. As mentioned above, this is so that that proper attention may be made to such matters as performing rights, insurance, and appropriate entertainment licenses.

During the main Saturday festival, there will be no charge for entrance for members of the audience, but an ongoing retiring collection will be held to contribute to the costs for St Matthew's Church. Some singers may also wish to contribute to this collection.

An entrance charge for audience members may be made at the Friday and Sunday concerts, depending on the wishes of the host churches. For singers, having paid the initial £2, there is no additional charge for singing at other concerts.

Festival Music

More Information &
REGISTER

Most of the music sung by participating choirs is of their own choosing.

There will be three Festival Pieces. At each of the first three concerts one of these pieces will be sung by all singers who wish to paricipate in this. After the fourth concert one or two of the earlier pieces will be sung.

Downloadable versions of the music and rehearsal track swill be available from early in 2011

The music can also be sent by post, if required.

For further information about the London Sangerstevne, please follow this LINK.

To register with the London Sangerstevne, please follow this LINK.

(In each case, you will be taken to our dedicated choir registration website.)

Help Organise/Run
the Sangerstevne

Sponsor or Advertise
with the Sangersteve

During the main festival, Saturday 14 May, help is needed to steward the festival, serve refreshments and generally make sure that everything is running properly. This help can vary between being on-site throughout the day and playing a major part in running the event through to being available for just a couple of hours.

There is a possibility that some help may be needed to represent the Sangerstevne at concerts on the Friday and Saturday.

For further information please follow this LINK

There are a number of ways in which you can sponsor the Sangerstevne financially. These are:

by advertising in the full-colour, glossy Sangerstevne programme (LINK);
by becoming a Friend of the Sangerstevne (LINK);
by becoming a Sponsor of the Sangerstevne (LINK).

Please visit the links for further information. If you wish to discuss any aspect of supporting the Sangerstevne please contact Christine or Philip (details below).

CONTACT
For general questions about the Sangerstevne, the Saturday main festival, registration and similar matters Christine Didelot +44 (0)20 8426 5597 christine@sangerstevne.org.uk	For questions about music, the festival pieces and the Friday and Sunday concerts Philip Norman + 44 (0)20 8519 6491 +44 (0)7939 064 247 philip@sangerstevne.org.uk

Christine Didelot	Philip Norman

Christine works full time as a marketing manager for Renault UK. In her spare time, she is a passionate and committed choral singer with a long experience of organisation and management in the arts. She brings to the Sangerstevne both her love of choral singing and her planning and project management skills	Philip is a professional musician working mainly in London. You can find out more about him via this LINK. You can find out more about the other organisations he works with from www.pnms.co.uk