Ardingly College tour, October 2023

The choir of Ardingly College enjoyed a tour to us over a long October weekend. They stayed at the HI Rouen accommodation centre in the heart of the city, and the first day was spent rehearsing at the magnificent Eglise Saint Jeanne d’Arc, followed by a performance for the mass service in the evening. The church was absolutely packed with barely a single seat to spare!

The following day they firstly visited Honfleur, using the music school for further rehearsals and then free time to visit the old harbour and explore the pretty lanes.

This led on to a lovely afternoon in Beuzeville to celebrate the Town Twinning of Ardingly and Beuzeville. Using the impressive La Cidrerie venue, a former cider factory that underwent a £3m conversion in 2019 to become a state-of-the-art performance venue and exhibition space, the choir were joined by lots and lots of local young musicians! Following a lovely concert, everyone had the chance to meet properly in the hall where we had a performance area set-up for impromptu music all afternoon!

The venue was packed with French families and members of the Twinning Committee, a most memorable afternoon and hopefully the start of more contact and events between the two towns.

“We had an incredible time in Normandy. Thank you so much for everything that you did to make it such a wonderful experience. I know that Susan – her even more so because she dealt with you in more detail and took on the main role of responsibility – will agree, that you were an absolute pleasure to work with, a brilliant communicator and we felt very at-ease for the whole process. The students had a good time, some good music was sung, connections made, many memories and positive culture formed. We are very grateful to you Chris.”

Tim Carpenter
Director of Music
Ardingly College
2nd November 2023