THE Winkleigh Singers will be performing the world premiere of a new Christmas piece of music by renowned composer Alison Willis at Great Torrington Parish Church on Saturday, December 14 at 7.30pm.

The new composition is “Fantasia on the Christmas Carols from Landkey” and was commissioned by the Winkleigh Singers to commemorate the choir’s 40th anniversary.

The piece is based on four traditional Christmas carols sung in and around the village of Landkey since the mid-19th century. Alison Willis has re-imagined the carols for the 21st century.

She says: “Several carols are considered to be ‘pure Landkey’, as in not really found anywhere else and it is these Carols that underpin the Fantasia.

“As a folk musician with an interest in preserving historical songs and tunes whilst keeping them alive in new ways, one of the challenges of writing this piece was to maintain the integrity of the originals whilst creating something new.”

The Fantasia will be preceded by a performance of the four Landkey carols in their original versions by the Landkey Carollers who are the custodians of the carols.

The evening promises to be fascinating, hearing the original and new settings of the carols in juxtaposition.

Alison is well known as an award winning composer whose works have been performed and broadcast across the UK and internationally by ensembles including the BBC Singers, The Gesualdo Six, BBC Concert Orchestra and the Ora Singers.

She is based in the East of England and has recently been appointed as Musical Director of the Grimsby Bach Choir.

The Winkleigh Singers was formed in 1984 as an informal group singing madrigals for mutual pleasure and this Christmas concert marks 40 years since they first performed after their conductor Roland Smith put up a card in Winkleigh village Post Office suggesting the formation of a small choir.

Roland has conducted the choir ever since.

The concert at St Michael and All Angels Church in Great Torrington will also include some well known and loved Christmas music such as “In Dulci Jubilo” and “O Holy Night”.

The second part of the concert is a performance of Haydn’s “St Nicholas Mass” with four young soloists from the Exeter area.

Tickets for the concert (£15 for adults, accompanied under 16’s free) are available from the Winkleigh Singers’ website: www.winkleighsingers.org.uk or on the door.