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.
EVENT CANCELLED PLEASE SEE INFORMATION FOR TICKET HOLDERS FOR REFUND OR TICKET TRANSFER
Baroque
Come and immerse yourself in the vocal and chamber music of the Baroque Period with the Choir of Thames Consort! Handel, Corelli, Schutz, Croce & Bach
With
Sharon Warnes and Claire Parkin – Violins
Judith Dallosso – ‘Cello
Director and Continuo – Jeremy Boughton
This is a fundraising event for Dorchester Abbey
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Brahms German Requiem: A Masterpiece of Consolation Experience with Benson Choral Society one of the most powerful and moving choral works ever written: Johannes Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem. Unlike traditional Latin requiems, Brahms created a “human requiem” to comfort the living. Driven by the grief of losing his mother and his mentor Robert Schumann, Brahms meticulously selected German biblical texts to offer a universal message of hope, peace, and shared humanity. This monumental work, Brahms’s longest composition, stands apart for its deep emotional resonance, rich romantic melodies, and exquisite choral writing. The music offers us a journey from anxiety and sorrow to ultimate consolation and peace. We will be performing the original version for piano duet, created by Brahms himself. Join us for a performance of this timeless masterpiece and Brahms’s vision of comfort at Dorchester Abbey on Saturday, 14th March at 7.30pm. Tickets are available online at www.bensonchoralsociety.org.uk. Seats: £20 reserved, £17 unreserved
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Rock Choir Charity Concert – Supporting Wallingford Family Centre & Sue Ryder
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Dorchester Festival is an amazing 64 events raising money for Dorchester Abbey and, in 2026, Be Free Young Carers, a local carers charity. Come and see The Kings Singers, sing with John Rutter, folk with Steve Knightley & Rusty Shackle, dance to Jay Rayner’s jazz sextet, be fascinated by Ashmolean Director Xa Sturgis, mesmerised by poet Brian Bilston, race ducks, find scarecrows, laugh with Nick Page, cook and do historical trails and much much more!
Find out more on the Festival website here
The King’s Singers are a world-renowned British a cappella vocal ensemble, founded in 1968 by choral scholars from King’s College, Cambridge. Known for their impeccable blend, technical precision, and diverse repertoire—from Renaissance polyphony to pop arrangements—they have won multiple Grammy and Emmy Awards. With a rotating lineup of six male voices, the group continues to perform and record internationally, setting the standard for vocal ensemble singing.
Patrick Dunachie · First Countertenor
Edward Button · Second Countertenor
Julian Gregory · Tenor
Christopher Bruerton · First Baritone
Nick Ashby · Second Baritone
Piers Connor Kennedy · Bass
More details on the Dorchester Festival website
Join us in the beautiful surroundings of the Dorchester Manor House garden to enjoy one of the most popular operas worldwide, performed for us by Regents Opera., a leading fringe Opera Company specialising in the larger works of the 19th & 20th centuries.
Cast :
Mimi : Christine Buras
Rodolfo: Davide Basso
Marcello: Sam Pantcheff
Musetta: Leila Alexander
Schaunard: Ashley Mercer
Colline: Geoff Clapham
Benoit / Alcindoro: Andrew Tinkler
Musical Director Ben Woodward
Revival Director Eleanor Strutt
Director: Sasha Regan
Design/Costumes: Reuben Speed
More information can be found on the Dorchester Festival website
Steve Knightley & Rusty Shackle are a double bill of brilliant folk night artists guaranteed to give you a joyful, uplifting evening of superb music.
The bar will be open with great beer on tap and good wines
Steve Knightley is a multi-award-winning singer-songwriter and musician, best known as a founding member of the folk/acoustic band “Show of Hands”. He hails from the West Country and is renowned for crafting songs deeply rooted in geographical places, merging historical folk influences with contemporary themes.
Welsh indie-roots six piece Rusty Shackle have been tearing up stages around the globe since 2010. Brandishing their distinct folk-roots sound armed with an electrifying mix of rampant fiddle, slick guitars, hooky mandolins and banjos melodies underpinned by tight pulsating drums and bass, they really are a force to be reckoned with.
More information can be found on the Dorchester Festival website
As a man who came of age in the 80s, restaurant critic, MasterChef judge and jazz pianist Jay Rayner has long been fascinated by the chart hits from that decade which weren’t just jazz inflected but had jazz in their very bones. Jay leads a sextet of top flight musicians to celebrate the greatest of those 80s songs, with new arrangements of brilliant tracks by Sade, Matt Bianco, Working Week, Everything But The Girl, Paul Weller, Sting and much more. Get your jazzy 80s on with the Jay Rayner Sextet. Box-shouldered jacket and big hair optional.
It’s a night of great music and great, often entirely inappropriate stories!
Find out more on the Dorchester Festival website