Date & venue

Sunday 15 November 2026, 7.30 pm, St Dunstan’s Church, Mayfield

Programme

Mozart: Great Mass in C Minor

Schubert: Stabat Mater

Performers

Mayfield Festival Choir 

Conductor: Jeremy Summerly

Orchestra: Ripieno Players

Soloists: Sofia Kirwan-Baez (Soprano), Aneska Diament (Alto), Francis Melville (Tenor), Ed Birchinall (Bass)

Description

It’s hard to believe that Mozart rattled off the Great Mass in C Minor well before he was 30, and even more surprising that Schubert can have trotted out his impressively mature Stabat mater before he was 20. But in 1783 Mozart had a point to prove. The C-minor Mass was written to showcase the vocal prowess of Mozart’s new wife, Constanze. Mozart took Constanze to Salzburg as his Soprano soloist in order to parade her in front of his father and sister, as well as to goad the much-despised Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. It worked.

Schubert had no such personal agenda: he was simply writing a lot of music in his late teens under the watchful eye of Anton Salieri. Salieri is often imagined as a twisted and jealous character, but actually, as well as admiring Mozart’s music, Salieri also inspired the young Schubert to unimaginable feats of creativity. Schubert’s Stabat mater reflects well on Salierei and, indeed, on Schubert’s brother, Ferdinand, to whom the Stabat mater was affectionately dedicated.

In this performance, Mayfield Festival Choir and the Ripieno Players under Jeremy Summerly are joined again by the stellar Soprano Sofia Kirwan-Baez and young vocal scholars from the Royal College of Music.

Tickets

Tickets cost £30 (centre), £25 (rear), £15 (south side), £8 (north side). Under 25s £5 (any seat). Available: a/ online at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/mayfieldfestivalchoir; b/ in person from Sew Inspired, Mayfield; c/ by phone from 0333 666 3366 (This is a general booking line operated for us by TicketSource. Please be sure to say that you are booking tickets for Mayfield Festival Choir – Mozart & Schubert. A postage fee of £2.50 will be applied to each order.)

Would you like to sing with us? We would love to hear from anyone who has experience of choral music and is keen to be part of a friendly but ambitious choir. Contact the membership secretary through the website http://www.mayfieldfestivalchoir.org/join-the-choir