St Stephen's Annual Festivals

St. Stephen's Music Festivals have been described, most appropriately by the Rt. Revd. Michael Scott - Joynt, Bishop of Winchester -

"The Annual Festivals are now a well established feature, setting a very high standard... Through the gift of music we can communicate some of the deeper meanings of our Christian Faith. I welcome you all warmly to the Festival, whether you live in Bournemouth or are a visitor, and I pray that you may go away refreshed and stimulated"

And by Revd. Canon Jim Richardson, Team Rector:

"One of the best things about St. Stephen's may Festival Weekend is the way it brings together old friends. The annual re-union sees familiar faces, music lovers from across the country who look out for one another, people who adore the "Beauty of Holiness"

The poet, Rupert Brooke (who probably saw St. Stephen's when visiting his Grandfather and Aunts in Littledown Road) who couldn't sing and had only a limited interest in Religious Music, wrote -

I sang at heart, and talked, and ate,
And lived from laugh to laugh, I too,
When you were there, and you, and you.

And so St. Stephen's Music Festival has become a Christian Music Festival of National Repute, commissioning new musical works on an annual basis and bringing together superb musical skills in a programme designed around an aspect of our Heritage.