A Carnival of Carols
Something new for December 2026 - a chance to learn traditional and contemporary carols in unique arrangements, and perform as a choir with full instrumental support from the The Carnival Band. If you’ve ever been part of their Carnival Choir before, this is an opportunity to explore the songs over a longer period in the festive surroundings of Halsway dressed for Christmas.
On this course you’ll learn folk carols and festive songs drawn from The Carnival Band's long association with Maddy Prior on much-loved albums such as A Tapestry of Carols and Carols and Capers. Since 2012, the band has regularly formed a Carnival Choir to perform with them in their concerts with Maddy, culminating in their final Carols and Capers tour in 2024. Even if you missed that, here’s another chance to take part!
The course will begin with Andy Watts and Giles Lewin teaching you the carols in four part harmony (SATB). Scores will be provided, and for those not so confident with musical notation, recordings will be available on The Carnival Band's website. Later in the week, the other band members, Steno Vitale and Jub Davis, will join the party to give you full instrumental support. The final evening session will be a public gig given by The Carnival Band and The Carnival Choir, open to the public.
Who is it for?
This course is for singers working at an intermediate level, who enjoy singing with others. The ability to read music would be advantageous, but not absolutely necessary. You’ll want to build on your existing skills and technique, mostly working in a big group with the tutors, but with some opportunities for smaller group work during the week.
The Team
Andy Watts grew up with ‘early music’ in the 1960’s thanks to an enthusiastic teacher in his Yorkshire primary school who was a fan of David Munrow. Shawms, crumhorns, recorders and viols were just as much a part of Andy’s musical life as clarinet and subsequently bassoon.
After graduating from Cambridge University, he studied bassoon and recorder at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and baroque bassoon at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. London’s period instrument orchestras, including The Academy of Ancient Music and The English Baroque Soloists. In 1984, he formed The Carnival Band, who have won acclaim for their recordings and live performances with folk-rock star Maddy Prior. They are also the lead ensemble in the 100 Ballads project, which was awarded the Roy Rosenzweig Prize for Creativity in Digital History by the American Historical Association.
A keen music educator working with children and adults, Andy previously taught at the Royal Academy of Music and continues to teach at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. As musical director of Shropshire Harmony Quire, he is exploring the Country Psalmody of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Not one to stand still, he has recently taken up jazz clarinet as a refreshing change from historically informed performance!
Giles Lewin is equally at home in folk, medieval and Arabic music. In the 1980s he joined theatre company The Medieval Players playing rebec and medieval fiddle and in 1987 became a founder member of The Dufay Collective. At the same time he was working with Irish band After Hours. He has performed with June Tabor, is in a trio with Maddy Prior and Hannah James and was a founder member of folk supergroup Bellowhead. He has studied Arabic violin in Cairo with Ashraf Sharki and Abdu Daghr and oud (Arabic lute) with Lebanese singer Abdul Salaam el Kheir. With singer Vivien Ellis he formed the duo Alva.
Jub (Andrew) Davis is one of the most sought after bass players on the classical and contemporary scene. He co-founded the Kreisler String Orchestra which won the 1986 Jeunesses Musicales competition, and has played with the London Mozart Players and English National Opera. He played with indie pop group The Band of Holy Joy and has worked with Youssou N’Dour, Tanita Tikaram, Abdullah Ibrahim, Loose Tubes, Brian Eno and Sting. He has undertaken world tours for choreographer Hofesh Schecter and taken part in the collaboration with Anthony Gormley on mixed media and physical theatre production ‘Survivor’.
Steno Vitale began his career with rock band Kashmir and folk rock band Chanter. With a talent for words he was drawn naturally to the theatre and worked as musical director with Leicester based company Bamboozle. He has devised the show Magical Mishaps for the Dearngate Theatre Northampton and appears frequently as a workshop leader at festivals. Several of his songs have been recorded by Maddy Prior and The Carnival Band.