Acclaimed choral director returns with Laudemus Choir to Dorset
6–10 August 2024
Former King’s Singer, choral director and composer, Jeremy Jackman, returns to Dorset this August to lead the choir Laudemus, showcasing music for the service of Choral Evensong.
Taking its name from Latin for ‘let us praise!’ and singing in venues across the county, the group has its roots in the Wimborne Arts Festival of 1991. The choir has returned each year since then to bring cathedral-style Evensong to country churches across Dorset.
Operating as an annual summer course, singers come from all over the UK and some from overseas. The repertoire is wide ranging, with different music for each service on the tour.
This summer, Laudemus will visit churches in Stalbridge (6 August), Swanage (7 August), Gussage All Saints (8 August), Symondsbury (9 August) and the Minster in Wimborne (10 August).
The choir is accompanied for most of the week by Dorset-born organist Sam Hanson, who pursues a busy freelance career as conductor, accompanist and composer in both Dorset and London. On Saturday, the organist will be Colin Davey, organist and director of choirs at Wimborne Minster.
Saturday’s service will also feature the first performances of two new choral works: the winning pieces in the recent Laudemus Composition Competition written by John Sturt and David Harris. There will be a presentation to the young composers at the close of the service.
