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We are delighted to announce our first Composer in Residence – Florence Anna Maunders whose music will be heard during this year’s Festival on numerous occasions including two new commissions in concerts given by Chamber Domaine and the Irene Taylor Trust. She will also work with our Participation and Learning Music Centre and bring composition to our Summer School 2024.

Florence started to compose music when she was a teenager which revealed an early fascination with the unusual juxtapositions of sounds and collisions of styles which have been a hallmark of her music ever since. The music which interested and excited her included medieval dance, prog rock, electronic minimalism, bebop jazz, Eastern folk music, the music of Stravinsky & Messiaen, and the grand orchestral tradition of the European concert hall. Following an undergraduate degree at the Royal Northern College of Music, she has developed a mixed and international career as a jazz pianist, orchestral percussionist, vocalist arranger, electronic music producer and teacher. Since 2018 she’s returned to composition as a main artistic focus, winning a series of awards and competitions. Her music has been performed across the UK, Europe, the USA and the rest of the world – performance and collaborations with leading ensembles, orchestras and soloists.

Florence said: “I’m utterly thrilled to be Composer in Residence with Deal Music & Arts this summer. It’s an incredible feeling for me as a creative musician to know that artists and organisations are so engaged with my compositions that they’d like not only to programme a significant number of pieces, but also to create something new for them also. I’m especially excited about working with the incredible musicians of Chamber Domaine to compose an original work which reflects the spirit of the concerto grosso – that contrast between solo instruments and the larger ensemble is really interesting and is opening up some fascinating musical possibilities – I can’t wait to see where it ends up.”

Florence’s involvement in the festival continues a long tradition of contemporary music being championed at the festival, with its history of Artistic Directors who are also composers. As Luke Styles, DMA’s current Artistic Director said: “New music brings to Deal the living, beating soul of classical music.”

The Trustees are delighted to announce that Soprano Lucy Crowe will become their next President.

Lucy Crowe studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where she is a Fellow. She was made an OBE in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours.  With repertoire ranging from Purcell, Handel and Mozart to Donizetti’s Adina, Verdi’s Gilda and Janacek’s Vixen, she has sung with opera companies throughout the world,   This season Lucy sings the title role Rodelinda with the English Concert and Harry Bicket on a tour to the US and Asia, selected Haydn and Weber arias with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Maxim Emelyanychev, selected Mozart arias with the Tampere Philharmonic and Brahms’ Requiem with the Handel & Haydn Society both with Bernard Labadie, Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with the Orchestra of Age of Enlightenment and Andras Schiff and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mass in C Minor and tour with the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra.

Christopher Cook, Chair of the Trustees of Deal Music and Arts said “Deal Music and Arts are delighted and honoured that Lucy Crowe OBE has agreed to become our new president. Her commitment to the art of singing and to the importance of music in our culture are exemplary. She will bring lustre to both the annual Deal Festival and to our vital educational work in East Kent. We count ourselves most fortunate that she feels able to join us.”

Luke Styles, Artistic Director of Deal Music and Arts said  “I am thrilled to welcome Lucy Crowe as the Deal Music and Arts president. I have been enthralled by Lucy’s voice and supreme musicality since first hearing her during our student days at the Royal Academy of Music. Since then she has given stand out performances throughout the world and on all of the UK’s premiere stages. Lucy is a committed community musician empowering local communities and bringing together artists and the public in life affirming performances and collaborations. I can’t wait for her to bring her magic to Deal and to be inspired by her musicianship.”

Lucy says of her appointment  ”I am thrilled to be appointed as President of the Deal Music and Arts. The dynamic team at Deal Festival are united behind a shared vision of making the experience of music and the arts welcoming and inclusive to all, and I am truly excited to be part of this. I am looking forward to getting to know the artistic community here at Deal, which I know appreciates creativity, artistic excellence, and innovation”