On Sunday, September 21 the Rye Arts Festival offered another gem of a concert in St Thomas Church, Winchelsea. The acoustics in this church are wonderful and the voice of Anne Rebecca Hojlund (soprano) and Francis Rayner on piano reflected this. Their voices fitted beautifully together, both expressing the sensibilities of each song. Anne Rebecca sang in several languages: French, German and of course in her own language, Danish. The programme was very well put together telling the audience the name of the songs and describing in English text what the song was about.
A lot of the songs were about sadness and love, very poetic such as in Beau Soir: “When at sunset the rivers are pink, all things seem to advise content and rise toward the troubled heart…” or Oh! Quand je dors: “Ah, while I sleep come close to where I lie…”
Ann Rebecca grew up in a large and musical family which frequently gathered to perform large-scale choral work. It sparked her curiosity about classical singing. She has much acclaim singing in operas, has sung Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s St John Passion in Denmark and much more. She has been part of the Barefoot Opera since 2012.
At Christmas she gathers 30 local children to perform the nativity story in Winchelsea Church. She is a passionate and experienced music educator, wanting to inspire children to sing more and better.
Francis Rayner first achieved public recognition at the age of nine when he won first prize in the under 14 national piano competition. Shortly after he entered Cheltenham’s School of Music. There he gained an LRAM Performer’s Diploma. Following his studies he won two major prizes in international piano competitions, held in Italy and France. He continued to perform widely in this country and abroad. For the audience at the church he played Shubert’s Impromptu in G flat, D. 899 No 3. It was at times gentle, at times expressive, just beautifully played.
Image Credits: Diana Carter .