Hailsham composer Dr Tony Biggin debuts his Requiem in Europe

The performance will be in the beautiful city of Leiden, home to one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious international research universities (twinned with Oxford) and, particularly at this time of year, a centre of the flower-bulb region.

Tony, who also composed the music for Hailsham Festival’s Musical, String (set in Hailsham and produced at Hailsham Pavilion last year), is no stranger to the Netherlands where his work has been performed on a number of occasions.

His choral pieces, Cry Of The Earth and The Gates of Greenham have received a number of performances in Leiden following their premieres at London’s Royal Festival Hall, while his Sussex Overture, commissioned by the East Sussex Youth Orchestra, was performed in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Sections of Requiem have already received performances, including a movement entitled If Only, sung beautifully by Abbie Marsden at the Mayor’s Concert during the 2019 Hailsham Festival.

But this will be the first time that the work will be produced in its entirety.

The premiere of Tony Biggin’s Requiem will be at 8pm on Saturday May 13 at the Marekerk in Leiden.

The British premiere will take place at the Grove Theatre, Eastbourne, on October 7 2023, with the Baroque Collective, conducted by John Hancorn.

For further information, please visit: www.tonybiggin.com, groveeastbourne.com/events/requiem-by-tony-biggin/