'Sing the Trees' woodland singing project

In a few weeks’ time, a very exciting outdoor concert will take place at the 2026 Chiltern Arts Festival.

On 23rd May, Echo Vocal Ensemble will guide the audience in a musical and physical journey amongst the trees of Penn Wood, before heading inside the beautiful Holy Trinity Church, with choral music performed along the way.

Included in the programme will be three new pieces that I have composed especially for this concert, setting brand-new poems by Laura Attridge (writer and director extraordinaire).

This is extremely exciting for us, because Echo, Laura and I have been nurturing this idea – an immersive choral performance that takes place outside, surrounded by trees – for quite some time. Creative dreams, a bit like forests perhaps, sometimes just take their time to grow, and will only take root and grow under the right conditions.

We are incredibly grateful to the funders whose support has enabled us to create this new music for what is set to be a very special performance & experience: thank you, thank you, to the Vaughan Williams Foundation, Hinrichsen Foundation, and Marchus Trust. We’re over the moon to be finally bringing our ideas to life.

(I am also very grateful to everyone who has helped us work on this over the last few years, for their time, advice, and support!)

Left to right: Sarah Latto (conductor of Echo Vocal Ensemble), Laura Attridge (librettist), Lillie Harris (composer) and Naomi Taylor (director of Chiltern Arts Festival) outside the church in Penn Wood on a site visit earlier in 2026.