Both the Boys’ and Mixed Choirs enjoyed successful tours this summer.
In July, both choirs took a week’s residency at Southwell Minster. The Boys’ Choir sang Evensong for three days, before the Mixed Choir took over to finish off the week. This was an excellent opportunity to sing favourite repertoire in a cathedral setting, and all choir members enjoyed singing in Southwell’s wonderful acoustics. At the conclusion of the week we bade farewell to three Choristers, two Choral Scholars and our Senior Organ Scholar, Edward Turner.
In addition to singing the daily service, the boys enjoyed a visit to the local National Trust workhouse, a tour up the Cathedral’s tower and lots of fun playing on the local recreation grounds. The choral scholars enjoyed a session singing a selection of repertoire in the glorious setting of the Cathedral’s chapter house, alongside taking walks through the local area.
The Mixed Choir have just returned from a highly successful tour to Germany, where they performed several concerts and services. The tour began with the choir opening Paderborn’s Festival Musica Sacra on the steps of the town’s Theology Faculty, before performing three short programmes to a full cathedral during the course of the evening. The choir sang mass at Schloss Neuhaus, and offered Choral Evensong in Paderborn’s Abdinghofkirche for locals and the British Army community. The tour ended with a concert at Kloster Lüne, where the choir performed a programme of English Sacred Music, from renaissance polyphony to the contemporary compositions of James MacMillan and Gabriel Jackson, to a highly appreciative and large audience.
We all enjoyed getting to know both Paderborn and Hamburg, and the tour was tremendously enjoyed by all. Huge thanks to Miriam Thiede, choral scholar, who put so much work into organising the tour.
