FOLK

Cotillion, a group of three friends who have sung together since 1990, perform A Sussex Christmas at The Unitarian Church, Horsham, at 7.30pm.

The show is set to explore Christmas in Sussex through music and poetry and includes works by Hilaire Belloc and Rudyard Kipling.

It is loosely divided into two sections, with the first half looking at the run-up to Christmas and the second half dealing more with Christmas itself.

The audience will be invited to sing along to a traditional piece called the Sussex Carol.

Cotillion consists of Anne Sartain (bodhrán), Bonnie Flitney (fiddle, guitar, melodeon) and Alan Wheeler.

The group originally performed music with three-part harmony pieces and guitars and has recently added to the sound with a variety of instruments.

All the members sing and the group also has a narrator, Linda Nichol.

Alan Wheeler, said: “We are not professional musicians. However. Anne and I also play in a folk group called Shipwrecked and sing in The Southdowns folk choir.

“Anne dances Morris with a ladies side, Magog, for which I am a musician. Bonnie sings with a choir called NSA, and sings also with a folk rock group, Touchstone.

“Our narrator Linda, Sussex Brogue as well, does amateur dramatics.

He continued:“Bonnie and Linda are Sussex born and bred and are, in fact, cousins. Anne has lived in Sussex since the ’70s.

“My family comes from Sompting and Shoreham, though I am from Newdigate right on the Surrey/Sussex border. I have lived in Horsham and then Greatham for a number of years. This county is has a great depth of folk music and other traditions that we like to help keep alive.”

Organiser Patrick Wynne-Jones said one of the reasons to put on the show was to celebrate the beautiful Sussex landscape.

He said: “It’s retained a wonderful rural feeling despite being so close to London.”

“The downs are a wonderful gift too”, he added.

Doors open at 7pm. Tickets cost £7 per person and include interval refreshments. For tickets and information call 01403 710550. Contact Cotillion on 01798 875412.