To open New Sounds 2026, New Voices Consort and their director Dr Nathan James Dearden perform David Lang's indescribably powerful, Pulitzer-winning work the little match girl passion. 

Lang's choral work tells one of the darkest, most deeply human stories of hope and suffering ever put to paper. Taking Hans Christian Andersen's bleak fairytale, and fusing it with Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Lang creates a wrenching expression of empathy, and a reminder that every life matters, and every act of kindness is an act of grace. This is not to be missed. 

This event is presented as part of the New Sounds Festival 2026, in partnership with the International Concert Series 2025-26 - VOX HUMANA - at Royal Holloway and the Midweek Music series. For further event information and to watch live, please visit this dedicated page: www.chapelchoir.co.uk 

About the performers

Described as “a champion of his generation” and whose music is “hauntingly beautiful’ (Media Wales), Nathan James Dearden is an award-winning Welsh composer, conductor, and educator. A champion for bringing audiences and communities diverse and exciting programming, Nathan is also a sought-after conductor, arts advisor, event curator and educator. He is currently Lecturer in Music Composition and Music Performance Manager at Royal Holloway University of London, Conductor of the New Voices Consort and New Music Collective, and holds arts advisory roles with several international organisations. Read more. 

Car parking

When you arrive for a College event at our Egham campus, please park in car parks 12 or 4.

Car park 12 can be accessed by turning right as you enter the main College gates and is located next to the tennis courts. If this car park is full, please drive further onto our campus to car park 4, which can be accessed by turning left at the mini-roundabout behind the Students’ Union. We would advise that you bring the College map to campus with you and give yourself plenty of time to park.

Blue Badge holders can find designated parking spaces in Car park 1W, as well as between Gardeners Lodge and the Williams Annexe. You can find these locations by looking at our campus map opposite. If you require any assistance on arrival, please contact our premises team in advance of your visit by emailing: premisesadmin@royalholloway.ac.uk and they will be happy to help.

Please note that we operate an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system on certain parts of our campus, however if you are here for an organised event, parking is unrestricted for event guests in car parks 12, 4 or 14 (or display your blue badge permit if parking in a disabled bay). If you have any questions about parking, please email: premisesadmin@royalholloway.ac.uk