King Charles Festival concerts

Sunday 24 January, 5:30pm: ORGAN RECITAL by Michael Bacon
First concert on the newly restored organ. Dupre, Durufle, Whitlock and Bach. Admission free

Saturday 30 January, 7:30pm: MUSIC OF THE STUART AGE
The Chelys Consort of Viols, with the King Charles Singers
Music from Lawes to Purcell, from the reigns of the Stuart kings in the 17th century, including Dido's Lament and final chorus of Dido and Aeneas.
Tickets £12 (£6 students) online here (discounts for advance booking) or call 01892 547835

Saturday 6 February, 7:30pm: MASTERS OF THE BAROQUE
Temenos Chamber Choir, with Ensemble Hesperi
Bach Singet dem Herrn, Gabrieli Jubilate for three choirs, Monteverdi Magnificat a 8, Blow Salvator mundi, Purcell Jehovah quam multi sunt
Tickets £12 (£6 students) from 01959 523765 or visit Sevenoaks Bookshop

Presented as part of the annual King Charles Festival, which marks the commemoration of the execution of Charles I in 1649.

The completion of the renovation of the church's fine Walker organ will also be marked by a celebrity organ recital by Jamie McVinnie on Sunday 28th February, at 3pm.

Temenos chamber choir started life in 1988 as the Sunday Singers, a group of ten singers singing motets and madrigals in the village of Shoreham, near Sevenoaks, in Kent. Since then, the choir has extended its repertoire from early music up to that of the present day: from Guillaume de Machaut to James MacMillan. Concerts are held in the Sevenoaks area and further afield. The choir is directed by Charles Vignoles.

The members of the Chelys Consort trained at Trinity College of Music, London, and the Royal Academy. All are now experienced and enthusiastic players and teachers, and their busy concert schedule has recently taken them to the Holywell Music Room in Oxford, Fitzwilliam College Cambridge, and the Worcester Early Music Festival. The word 'Chelys' is derived from the ancient Greeks and referred to a bowed lyre, said to have been invented by the god Hermes. The players are active in the wider early music world, playing with leading ensembles such as the Rose Consort of Viols, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Phantasm and Charivari Agreable.