Hey for Christmas!

Aim

Help us raise £12500 to record our debut album with Siglo de Oro, 'Hey for Christmas!', recreating a musical 1620s Christmas.

Our Aim

We are asking for your help to raise £12500 to record our debut album with Siglo de Oro, 'Hey for Christmas!' on Delphian records. We have toured this programme throughout the UK and now want to record it for audiences to enjoy wherever they may be.

Our Vision

This festive programme explores the historical intersections of religious festivals, folk traditions, and winter celebrations across the British Isles in the seventeenth century – from Hogmanay in Scotland, to wassailing in the Southwest of England, to the Kilmore carols of Ireland – and how these traditions continue to resonate today. Our vision is to create an album that draws from these diverse historical strands – religious and secular, solemn and joyful – to reflect and celebrate the many facets of the holiday season, both past and present. Our recording will consist of pieces from the Scots Musical Museum, John Playford’s published collections of tunes from across the United Kingdom, and collected traditional melodies, as well as compositions published at the opening of the seventeenth century. 

Reviews 

‘An evening of splendidly diverse music whose first-class performances … left a charmed audience…’ MusicOhm – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

'The conceit was of recreating a mid-17th century English family’s musical diet through the Christmas season. And it was a whole lot of fun.' The Arts Desk – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Target: £12,500

We have raised half the funds needed so far to make our recording, supported generously by the Continuo Foundation, the Gemma Trust, and various private donors. However, CDs are becoming increasingly expensive to make, and for an ambitious project such as this we are still looking to raise the other half of the funds necessary. The great news is we have teamed up with Creative Scotland who will match each donation up to £250, making your donation go twice as far.

We will use the funds raised to pay for: record label Delphian's recording costs; venue hire; post-production editing and mastering; and ensure fair pay for every musician working on this project. 

Thank you so much for reading this page. Please consider making a donation and spreading the word, via social media or other means, about our appeal.

If you would like to get in touch or have any questions about our project please email [email protected].

Thank you,

Eric Thomas and Patrick Allies

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made