Not long after discovering and being entranced by the music of Herbert Howells, I was given a disc of his Hymnus Paradisi for my 16th birthday. A joyous obsession began. On 18 July 2026 my choir, the Brighton Festival Chorus (BFC), and the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra stage a performance at All Saints' Church, Hove and I will a realise a 34-year old ambition to sing this masterwork. I aim to raise £3,400, or £100 for each obsessive year I have longed to sing this piece.

Those involved in music will know the costs of mounting performances. Please support BFC by sponsoring me for a somewhat ambitious bike ride that links together key places in Howells' life and work. On 2 May I will start out from Barnes, London, where Howells lived for nearly half his life, and cycle to Gloucester Cathedral. (The Dean has kindly given permission for me to visit the beautiful window commemorating Howells.) It was here that Howells was an articled pupil of the organist, Herbert Brewer, where he heard the 1910 premiere of Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, which inspired so much of his musical direction, and where Hymnus Paradisi was first performed in 1950. I then head to Lydney, where Howells was born, before using the Severn Bridge for the journey back to London. Specifically, the Royal College of Music, where, with the College's kind permission, I will finish my ride less than 24 hours later in Howells' old teaching room.

If you like Howells, or British music, or the continued flourishing of this island's choral tradition, or just want to see a bald man who will have just turned 50 suffer for his silliness, then please sponsor me as much as you dare. Thank you from me and my 150 fellow BFC singers!