Music and wine in Hurstpierpoint

We’re delighted to be performing in Holy Trinity Church, Hurstpierpoint, on Saturday 16 December 2023.

2023 is the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd so we are marking the event with a programme that not only features music by Byrd himself but also includes other carefully selected pieces about birds! And, or course, being so close to Christmas there will be quite a few pieces with a seasonal flavour!

To book: email margaret@112a.co.uk

The Waits in 2022

After a hiatus during the Covid pandemic, The Sussex Waits are delighted to be back on the road performing in various venues in the coming months.

• Sunday 12 June 2022: Henfield Festival of Garden and Arts

• Saturday 16 July: Memorial concert for one of our founder members, Martin Eastwood, at St Margaret the Queen, Buxted

Music for Dancing in Court and Country

In the days before CDs, streaming, Playstations and Netflix, live music and dancing were the most common forms of entertainment and relaxation both for the rich in the courts of Europe and for the poor in the countryside.

Several sources of information about sixteenth century dance exist and these reveal much, not only the steps for the various dances but also the importance of dance in society and the social mores of the time.

The Sussex Waits will be exploring this exciting topic at Bridge Cottage, Uckfield on Thursday 3 January 2019 at 7pm

The Waits, together with Alan Mynett, will be talking about the dances that were popular in the 16th century and demonstrate the music that was played for them on a range of instruments including shawms, recorders, crumhorns and bagpipes!

Tickets are available from www.bridgecottageuckfield.co.uk or by calling the box office on 01825 760734, price £4.00 (£2.00 for UDPS members)

Far Country

Artist and writer Rosemary Pavey has invited The Sussex Waits to play for her Christmas exhibition Far Country on Saturday 15 December 2018 at 2pm.

The exhibition and Christmas Jolly will take place this year at Stoneywish Visitor Centre, near Ditchling, Sussex.

The Waits will be playing a range of music including some well-known Christmas favourites on shawms, crumhorns and recorders .

SatNav users can find Stoneywish at BN6 8XH.

Bridge Cottage, Uckfield

The Sussex Waits is delighted to be presenting a talk and demonstration on the ‘town waits’ and their instruments at Bridge Cottage in Uckfield on 4 January 2018.

Bridge Cottage is a perfect venue for the Sussex Waits as it is one of the oldest buildings in Uckfield. An example of a medieval Wealden hall house, it was built in the 1430s and almost demolished in 1983. The building was saved through a Lottery grant and extensive restoration work was completed in April 2016.

The Sussex Waits will be presenting a talk and demonstration on musical instruments from medieval to renaissance times, from the viewpoint of the ‘town waits’. The talk will be illustrated not only with slides but also live performances showing the types of music and instruments that the waits would have played – shawms, curtals, recorders, crumhorns and more.

The talk will start at 7pm, but the doors will open at 6.30pm for coffee and tea. Tickets are £4.00 (£2.00 for UDPS members) and are available from the Bridge Cottage website.

Sussex Waits at Christmas

 

Two chances to hear The Sussex Waits this Christmas.

First, we’re delighted to be joining Brighton Consort of Voices and their director Deborah Roberts for a concert of Advent and Christmas music from the German-speaking world on 2 December 2017 at 6pm in St Paul’s, West Street, Brighton.

And a couple of weeks later we have been invited again Rosemary Pavey’s workshop at Studio 13 at the Turner-Dumbrell Workshops, North End, Ditchling on Saturday 16 December 2017 from 11am.

We will be playing a selection of music on shawms and recorders including many Christmas carols in their original form!

You can find out more about ‘Studio 13’  (or at www.paveypenandpaint.com)

Hurstpierpoint West Gallery Concert

Sussex Waits is delighted to be presenting a concert on Saturday 21 October as part of the Hurstpierpoint West Gallery 2017 concert series.

The concert begins at 6pm and we will be playing a range of music from England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Low Countries featuring not only our trademark shawms and curtals but also crumhorns and recorders.

There will be a bar available before the concert and during the interval.

 

Tickets are only £5, available from kmcarey@atlas.co.uk

 

An ingenious living historie

The Sussex Waits will be presenting an exciting talk on 30 June as part of the Stoneywish History Mornings lecture series.

We will be talking about the history and background of the ‘town waits’ – and illustrating the talk not only with pictures but with live performances showing the types of music and instruments that the waits would have played.

We will be talking about and playing shawms, curtals, recorders, gemshorns and more …

And the history mornings don’t only feed the mind, they also offer coffee and cake!

 

Stoneywish Visitor Centre, Spatham Lane, Ditchling at 10.30am on 30 June 2017. Tickets: £6.50

For more details visit www.stoneywish.co.uk

Wolcom Yole!

The Sussex Waits is delighted to be bringing festive music to Studio 13 at the Turner-Dumbrell Workshops, North End, Ditchling on Saturday 17 December 2016 from 11am.

We will be playing a selection of music on shawms and recorders including many Christmas carols in their original form!

You can find out more about ‘Studio 13’  (or at www.paveypenandpaint.com)

Anglo-French concert in Framfield

On April 2nd we are looking forward to taking part in an unusual joint concert with the Faronel and a group of visiting early musicians from the Conservatoire Camille Saint-Saens de Dieppe. All three ensembles will be performing works from their own repertoire, and Faronel and the Sussex Waits will also be joining forces for some loud wind consorts. The concert takes place at St Thomas a Becket Church, Framfield, East Sussex: more details soon!