[ In Flanders Fields ] [ Peace Concerts Passendale ] [ Passchendaele and Ieper Historical Background ] [ We're Here because We're Here... ] [ Terminus Passchendaele ] [ Passchendaele Suite ] [ The Christmas Truce 1914 ] [ The Belgian Girl ] [ The Underground War ] [ Seeds of Peace ] [ Private Peaceful ]

This section aims to link together the various projects in which Coope Boyes & Simpson have been involved with Peace Concerts Passendale.

In Flanders Fields (apart from being the name of the excellent museum in Ieper (Belgium)) is a collection of songs, poems and other contemporary and original material which Coope Boyes & Simpson occasionally perform.

Much of Coope Boyes and Simpson’s songwriting and arranging has been to commission.  Notably, the band's work for Peace Concerts Passendale - the arts organisation based in Flanders – has led to an outstanding body of songs and music growing out of the events of the First War.  Passchendaele Suite was commissioned by the town of Passendale to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the battle, We’re Here Because We’re Here was performed in Passendale Church and resulted in a live album recorded by Flemish radio, whilst The Christmas Truce, which was originally performed in Yprès/Ieper Cathedral was written for the trio and an eighty piece Flemish choir.  Peace Concerts brings together musicians from different countries to create works that use the First War as a metaphor for all wars – taking the music to cathedrals or concert hall or out into the Flanders countryside where the battles were fought.  So some of the songs and music the trio have written for Peace Concerts like Terminus Passchendaele and The Belgian Girl were performed on sites like Hill 60 or just behind the lines Flemish villages.  The unforgettable launch concert for We’re Here Because We’re Here at Sidmouth International Festival of Folk Arts, critically acclaimed tours of Passchendaele Suite with Panta Rhei and The Christmas Truce with Wak Maar Proper and The Roses and Thorns Choir have also brought this area of their music to a wide range of English audiences.

“August 2004 saw  Coope Boyes and Simpson join June Tabor and twenty-one singers and musicians from across Europe to take part in a performance of the epic “Seeds of Peace” concert at Dranouter Folk Festival in Flanders.   Originally created to mark the Tenth Anniversary of Peace Concerts Passendale, the concert had one performance to an audience of over four thousand in Passendale in August 1992.   In August 2004 – ninety years after the outbreak of the First War, this outstanding concert was re-performed at Dranouter>