Royal Wootton Bassett Arts Festival welcomes new Music Chair and our Music Festival will change dates to run alongside Speech and Drama

Royal Wootton Bassett Arts Festival is delighted to announce its new Chair of Music, Sarah Sumner.

Sarah has a life-long love of music and has been playing since early childhood; enjoying the piano, oboe, viola and singing. She has a wide range of experience; from playing in numerous local festivals and orchestras to taking a range of music examinations. More recently, Sarah was validated as the Leading Teacher for Primary Music at Swindon Borough Council. She has also delivered Music Teacher Training to Graduate Students and has had an article about the importance of music in education published.

Sarah is currently Deputy Head of Westlea Primary School and a Trustee of the Friends of Swindon Young Musicians. She is also in the final year of a Master’s Degree in Education.

New Chair of Music, Sarah Sumner said: “I am really excited about this new adventure as the Chair of the Royal Wotton Bassett Music Festival and being involved in the holistic promotion of music for all ages and not just regarded as an elitist discipline. I want to use the festival as a performance platform for all participants, to experience performing in front of an audience and promote the positive aspects of music making. “   

In addition, the Music section of the Festival, which usually runs in June and July, is now being moved to join its sister section of Speech and Drama in November. The change will take effect from 2019. It could see Royal Wootton Bassett welcome over 1000 performers to the town over the Festival weekend.

Miranda Shirnia, overall Chair of the Royal Wootton Bassett Arts Festival said: “We are thrilled to have found such an experienced new chair with a clear passion for music and education. As she settles into her role, we are looking forward to seeing some exciting new developments in the music side of our ever-growing festival.

“We are also very excited about bringing the Music and Speech and Drama Festivals together over one huge, celebration of local talent – we can really maximize its potential.  Combining the resources of our fantastic committees means we have the skills and capacity to take the festival onto its next stage making it bigger and better than ever. We also believe that autumn will suit our performers better as it is now well away from the busy exam season.”