Events at Dorchester Abbey
For generations people have brought their gifts and skills to enhance the life of Dorchester Abbey and this tradition continues as a huge variety of groups and organisations hire and use the Abbey each year as the venue for a wide and vibrant programme of concerts, theatre, visual arts and other events.
If you would like to hire the Abbey for your event then take a look at our information for hirers.
Moving Music concerts are presented by the charity Sound Resource, which promotes music for health and well being.
Brilliant pianist Derek Paravicini performs with singer Hannah Davey, a range of music – classical, jazz, folk, popular and audience requests. The concert includes sing-along songs for the audience to join as they wish.
All are welcome, particularly people living with dementia, their family, friends and carers. Reserve places in advance for your preferred concert time: movingmusicconcerts@gmail.com
The Bartholomew Consort is marking 25 years of singing some 75 concerts with Dutch conductor, JanJoost van Elburg, by coming together in Dorchester Abbey with the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble (ECSE) to present this fitting programme of Polychoral Splendour. It begins with a Kyrie written in 1497, and a thread of the Latin mass is woven through works from the mid Baroque period, ending with a setting of the Agnus Dei. The second half of the concert is firmly placed in the Renaissance. The opulence of the period is represented by the intricate and multi-layered choral writing by composers from across Europe, culminating in Tallis’s timeless Spem in Alium. In each half there will be an instrumental piece.
Brumel – Missa et ecce terrae motu – Kyrie à 12
Praetorius – Tota pulchra es à 12
Stradella – Missa Ad Te Clamamus – Gloria
Caldara – Crucifixus à 16
Instrumental piece
Charpentier – Messe à Quatre Choeurs – Sanctus
Charpentier – Messe à Quatre Choeurs – Agnus
Gabrieli – Udite Chiari à 15
Massaino – Non vos me elegistis à 15
Utendal – Angelus Domini descendit à 23
Gabrieli – Nunc dimittis à 14
Instrumental piece
Tallis – Spem in alium à 40
The St Birinus Festival brings together outstanding musicians, scholars, and communities for a celebration of sacred music in the beautiful setting of Dorchester-on-Thames.
Over four days, experience concerts, liturgies, workshops, and talks that explore the rich heritage of Catholic musical tradition.
Please note the Festival Events take place across multiple sites – Dorchester-on-Thames Village hall, The Catholic Church of St Birinus Dorchester on Thames, & Dorchester Abbey. Please note that the services that form part of the festival are Catholic Celebrations.
For full details of this wonderful programme and for tickets visit www.thedaveyconsort.co.uk/#festival-schedule Or click on the ticket link above .
Ticket prices From free events to £35.00 depending on which event it is within the Festival’s programme.
| A Message from the Artistic Director – |
Welcome to the 4th annual St Birinus Festival. I warmly invite you to come and explore our busy schedule of wonderful events over these four days.
You might ask: Why St Birinus? And why a sacred music Festival here? Many will be discovering for the first time the historical significance of Dorchester-on-Thames as the place where a monk, St Birinus, sent from Rome in the early 7th century, baptised the king of Wessex and brought about the formal transition of England to Christianity.
But it was’t just Christianity that Birinus brought to England; it was also music. With fellow Benedictine monks, our own Saint Birinus brought the liturgy and the Gregorian chant that accompanies it. Thus, Dorchester-on-Thames found itself at the centre of a cultural and musical phenomenon.
The enormous and beautiful medieval abbey that stands there today, a great shrine and place of pilgrimage to those seeking the intercession of the saint that brought about England’s faith, will host the majority of the festival events. Those who love early music and early history will be drawn to hear these ancient walls once more echo to the sounds of Gregorian Chant (some of which has been painstakingly revived from the Winchester Troper for this event), as well as polyphonic music from the treasures of the Iberian Renaissance. All of this music will be sung within the context of the ancient Latin liturgical rites that St Birinus would have known.
Alongside the liturgies that form the daily pulse of the Festival, there are lectures, talks, workshops, children’s activities, recitals and concerts. The great Festival concert will be a performance of the Monteverdi Vespers in the abbey, directed by Simon Over
(of Sinfonia Smith Square) and accompanied by the period instruments of the
Guerrero Baroque Collective.
We are lucky to have enough to have among our patrons the great English composers of our day such as Ryan Wigglesworth, who will be directing many of the Festival services, Sir Stephen Hough and Sir James MacMillan. It is a huge honour for me to organise these events and to see the impact on all participants, young and old alike, for this extraordinary ancient music never ceases to amaze and inspire.
Have a wonderful festival!
Dominic Bevan
Artistic Director
The Saint Birinus Festival 2026
~ Please Note that there are TWO separate performance times on this date ~
Lumos brings you enchanting concert experiences
paying homage to world famous artists. We’ve
partnered with spectacular locations & churches across
the UK to deliver a concert experience that is nothing
short of magical
Lumos presents A Coldplay Candlelight Experience at
Dorchester Abbey. A string quartet playing a classical
tribute to your favourite Coldplay hits!
Key Information : PLEASE READ 🗓️
Saturday 15th August
📍 Dorchester Abbey, High St, Dorchester on Thames,
Wallingford OX10 7HH
⏰ 2 Sittings: 1st Sitting: 7-8pm | 2nd Sitting: 9-10pm
🕰 Entry: 1st Sitting: Doors open at 6.15pm | 2nd
Sitting: Doors open at 8.30pm
🎼 Musical Theme: A Classical Coldplay Tribute
🪑 Seating Is First Come First Serve To Your Allocated
Tiered Zones (In Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze)
❓ Please Read Our FAQ’s
👥 8+ This event is for eight year olds & above
📩 Email us for any questions at
customerservice@lumos-experiences.com
♿ Accessibility: This venue is wheelchair accessible
~ Please Follow YELLOW roadside Event Signage for Dedicated Parking for This Event ~ see here for MAP to
An uplifting day of music-making for all singers
Join us for a wonderful Come & Sing featuring Gabriel Fauré’s much-loved Requiem – a beautiful, serene, and deeply moving work that has inspired choirs and audiences for generations. We are delighted to be joined by Alastair Mucklow, the 2025 BBC Young Chorister of the Year, and Belinda Gifford-Guy, the 2023 BBC Junior Young Chorister of the Year, as our soloists. The event will be accompanied by Jeremy Boughton, supported by a group of local young musicians, and led by RSCM’s Deputy Director, Dr Paul Hedley.
On this occasion we particularly welcome under-18s to join the massed choir, but they must be accompanied by an adult.
Whether you’re a seasoned chorister or simply enjoy singing for pleasure, this is a perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in one of the choral world’s great masterpieces in the splendid surroundings of the historic medieval abbey at Dorchester on Thames.
Price includes;
• Participation in the Come & Sing
• A copy of the RSCM edition of the score. Music can be collected on the day or posted to you in advance (postage and packing charge applies).
Refreshments will be available to purchase during the break.
Audience members are welcome to join for the performance at 5.00pm (BST). Donations welcome.
Moving Music concerts are presented by the charity Sound Resource, which promotes music for health and wellbeing.
Hannah Davey and Victoria Newman perform songs from stage and screen. The concert includes sing-along songs for the audience to join as they wish.
All are welcome, particularly people living with dementia, their family, friends and carers. Reserve places in advance for your preferred concert time: movingmusicconcerts@gmail.com
Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps is a brief, nuanced piece combining joyful high spirits with poignant introspection.
Rejecting the flashy, empty virtuosity popular at the time, Schumann envisioned a new type of piano concerto – one where the piano and orchestra engage in a passionate, equal dialogue.
Composed in just five weeks in late 1850, Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 “Rhenish” is a joyous, five-movement masterpiece inspired by his move to Düsseldorf and a trip to the Rhineland.
A spirited homage to Zoltán Kodály’s childhood memories, Dances of Galánta (1933) is a vibrant orchestral showpiece based on 18th-century Hungarian folk music.
The Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor of 1887, was an olive branch offered to his estranged friend, the great violinist Joseph Joachim, with the cello part written for Joachim’s quartet cellist, Robert Hausmann.
Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, whom Beethoven admired as a champion of freedom, the “Heroic” Symphony was renamed in fury when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor in 1804.
Ginestera Dances from Estancia no 2 and 4
Darius Milhaud’s La création du monde (The Creation of the World) is a groundbreaking 1923 ballet blending African creation myths with the vibrant sounds of American jazz, featuring bitonal harmonies, syncopated rhythms and bluesy melodies.
George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is a landmark American work, blending jazz & classical music, famous for its iconic clarinet glissando, capturing the energy of the Roaring Twenties with its mix of syncopation, soulful melodies, & “blue notes”.
The Firebird was Stravinsky’s first major breakthrough, commissioned by Serge Diaghilev for his pioneering Ballets Russes in Paris. It immediately propelled the 28-year-old composer to international fame.
TICKETS NOW ON SALE ~TICKETS NOW ON SALE ~ TICKETS NOW ON SALE
One Date : Two Performance Times ~ Please Book Tickets For Your Preferred Performance on This Date ~
05:45pm – Performance One: Tribute to Hans Zimmer & Film Favourites Illuminated
08:15pm – Performance Two: Tribute to Hans Zimmer & Film Favourites Illuminated
A Tribute to Hans Zimmer & Film Favourites Illuminated An immersive tribute to Hans Zimmer and cinema’s most iconic music with a live chamber orchestra illuminated by light
Please Follow Yellow Event Signage to Dedicated Event Car Parking ~ Please respect the Village and Park in designated Car Parking Provided ~ DO NOT park on the high street blocking main through roads for emergency vehicles or blocking drive ways