A special memorial concert for Fr Stephen

Worth Society are delighted to be hosting a very special concert in the Abbey Church at Worth at 7:15pm on Sunday 22 November 2026 in memory of Fr Stephen Ortiger OSB. The programme will feature a selection of beautiful choral pieces, including anthems by Parry and Elgar, but will also feature the world premiere of a major new work composed by OW Julian Gairdner StB’89.

Abbatial Requiem will be performed by London-based choir Vox Cordis alongside Worthian singers and will serve as a musical memorial to a greatly loved member of the Worth community. The event is also a fundraiser for both the Fr Stephen Bursary Fund, supporting the Retreat Centre at Worth, and the Catholic Diocese of Arundel & Brighton’s annual pilgrimage to Lourdes of which he was greatly involved.

For Julian, the concert represents the completion of a deeply personal, lifelong musical circle having first envisioned writing a Requiem Mass while a student at Worth in the 1980s. While the idea remained a distant dream for decades, the death of his former Head Master in January 2024 proved to be the catalyst.

Abbatial Requiem is written for a four-part choir, organ, two trumpets, cello, timpani, glockenspiel, and a baritone soloist. Most notably, the third movement, 'Stephen’s Prayer', features an adaptation of an incredibly moving email that Fr Stephen sent to his friends just weeks before his death. It also features an acapella movement evoking Gregorian chant as a direct nod to Worth's Benedictine identity. 

Tickets cost £16.50 each with a complimentary interval drink courtesy of Worth Society.

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE.