The Town Mayor got into the festival spirit when he joined in the celebrations of Hailsham Festival’s ‘Mayor’s Concert’, which was held at Hailsham Parish Church recently.
Members of the public enjoyed the free event, which was introduced by the Mayor of Hailsham, Cllr Paul Holbrook, before performances by Hailsham Voices Community Pop Choir, guest soprano Rosie Ann Page and trumpeter Andrew Baxter.
Hailsham Voices, a community pop choir set up in 2018 with the aim of inspiring people to sing regardless of ability or music reading skills, performed a string of contemporary choral works at the Mayor’s Concert.
Abbie Marsden, founder and director of the choir group also sang some songs by festival director, Tony Biggin.
Mezzo-soprano Rosie Ann Page, who has performed in various events and occasions across the UK including at London’s Natural History Museum for BBC Children In Need, also performed as guest soloist. Trumpeter Andrew Baxter, whose career highlights include playing on the number one album ‘Ballads’ by Lianne Caroll and the number one single ‘Abracadabra’ by Joe Stillgoe, also wowed the audience as guest soloist.
“Hailsham has such amazingly rich groups of choristers and it was an honour for me to be part of this year’s Hailsham Festival by hosting this special concert,” said Cllr Holbrook. “I am very grateful to the Hailsham Voice Community Pop Choir, guest soloists Rosie Ann Page and Andrew Baxter and, of course, the Festival Committee for organising what was undeniably an amazing concert.
“We all look forward to the wide range of live entertainment performances, as well as art trails and workshops, which will showcase throughout the remainder of the month.”
Hailsham Voices’ Abbie Marsden commented: “It is an honour for us to perform in the Mayor’s Concert each year, and this year we had the privilege of performing alongside talented young singer Rosie Ann Page and professional trumpeter Andrew Baxter, both of whom were accompanied by the wonderful Will Hancox.”
“The concert was a huge success – how lucky we are to have such high calibre musicians living locally! Hailsham Voices will be performing again on Saturday 12th October in their Autumn Concert and tickets for this can be purchased from wegottickets.com.”
The Mayor’s Concert was just part of this year’s Hailsham Festival of Arts & Culture, itself being one of the highlights of the town’s events calendar and attracting a cross-section of artists and performers from the Southeast and further afield.
Full details and a full programme of events, visit their website: hailshamfestival.co.uk.
Terry Hall, Communications Officer
Hailsham Town Council, Market Street, Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 2AE
Telephone: 01323 841702 | Email: terry.hall@hailsham-tc.gov.uk