Today was our second day in London and the final full day of our tour! We began our day with a walk along the south embankment as we headed to The Globe Theatre for a wonderful tour of this painstakingly researched recreation of Shakespeare's theatre. Our tour guide Antony, gave us some wonderful insights into the world of Theatre in Shakespeare's time. We also learned a great deal about how performances have changed over the years and the way in which the Globe attempts to be faithful to Shakespeare's original intentions. After the tour of The Globe, we split into a number of groups, some to shop, some to sightsee and some to attend the Choral Eucharist at St. Paul's Cathedral across the Thames. The grandeur of this building and its famous nine second acoustic make it one of the most spectacular aural and visual sights in the world! After lunch in the Cathedral Crypt we boarded the bus for The Tower of London. The tower of London is one of the most iconic of the historic sights in London. We enjoyed taking the tour of the castle, as well as visiting the Crown Jewels, the Beaufort and Bloody Towers and the torture chamber. It was a very interesting visit and we all left with lots to think about.
Our final event of the day was a celebratory dinner, with everyone dressed in their finery. We reflected on our accomplishments, which have been many and on how proud we are of the choir for their mature behaviour throughout the trip and for their excellent singing! We all have a great deal to be proud of with this choir, a choir which we can now say is one of the three best of their kind in Canada!
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After a wonderful night's sleep we all boarded the coach to head out to the great city of London. Our day began with a tour of Westminster Abbey, a building of monumental proportions, with an even more monumental history. Inside, we had a wonderful two tour which took us into some forgotten corners. We had a chance to see the poets corner, and the burial places of musicians like George Frederich Handel, Charles Villiers Stanford, Henry Purcell and Edward Elgar. We also saw the monuments to Churchill, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking and Isaac Newton. Following lunch at the Methodist Hall Café, we walked through St. James Park, to Buckingham Palace, where we had a wonderful tour of the State Rooms and learned a great deal about the history of the place. Unfortunately, the Queen was not available to hear us sing, but it was great fun any way!
Dinner was found at the wonderful environs of Covent Garden Market, where we sampled food from a wide variety of countries and sources! Many of us congregated outside to watch the world class buskers perform. All in all it was a wonderful day! .oday we said goodbye to the Cotswolds as we headed down to the London area via Woodstock and the county of Oxfordshire. Our first destination was Blenheim Palace, seat of the Duke of Marlborough since the early 1700s. The palace is the largest private home in the British Isles and the birthplace of Sir WInston Churchill. After a very interesting and informative tour, we headed to the Palace Chapel for a concert. The chapel is stunning - tall, light and airy - but, much to our dismay, there was no piano in the space, The chapel organ dated from the early 1800s and the console was crammed under the steps. This made it very hard for our 6 foot 8 inch organist to play sitting straight up. Clearly the organ has not been maintained and it presented a plethora of challenges including non-working pedal division, out-of-tune swell division, and a number of ciphers and other odd sounds. Add to this the fact that the organist faces a corner with his back to the wall, can't see the choir director, and was in this case generally obscured by a crowd of onlookers, and you can understand that the situation was at best difficult. As if this wasn't challenge enough we were allowed no rehearsal time in the space or with the instrument whatsoever, and one would imagine that the results were quite bleak. However, our choristers rose to the challenge with supreme professionalism and skill. They sang a truly beautiful concert which was much appreciated by the standing room only crowd. After today I think we can truly say that the Choristers of our Choir School have achieved professional level ability. After lunch we had a chance to explore the grounds of what is truly a breathtaking estate, then heading south to Windsor and Eton. Here we had a chance to explore the two lovely towns and have a look inside the gates of the castle before going to our hotel outside of London. Today concluded the performance portion of our trip and we can say that it was a time of great growth and rising to challenges that we could have only dreamed of accomplishing before. Tomorrow we are off to London for some serious sightseeing!
Apologies again for the rather late post, but we are having a terrible time with the website! Today was a chance to spend time in the Cotswolds, the beautiful and bucolic area near Oxford, famed for its golden stone buildings. Our day began in the great market town of Cirencester, which was originally a roman settlement. The wealth in the area comes on the back of the wool trade, which continues to be an important industry. Many of the great buildings, including the area's fine churches were built by very successful wool merchants, as a way of thanking God for their great success. Among these churches, is the great perpendicular Gothic church of St. John the Baptist in Cirencester. This spectacular church, which features soaring ceilings and a plethora of fine side chapels, is in essence a small cathedral and felt very lucky to be able to sing in such a fine, historic space. Our concert was very well received, with many lovely and generous comments, including one from a professional organist who said, 'one rarely hears singing of this quality from children so young.' The event was truly a success in every sense and the Choristers again showed tremendous growth in the depth and expressiveness of their singing. They have also developed a splendid sense of power and brilliance in their line which is very exciting to experience! All in all it was a great, great day. Following the concert we went to the beautiful Cotswold town of Burford. We had a good two hours to explore this gorgeous village and its lovely shops. Among the buildings that we explored was the remarkable Burford Parish Church of St. John, another stunning example of perpendicular Gothic architecture, although smaller by half than the church in Cirencester.
After our time in Burford we went to the tiny village of Twynings (yes, the family that makes the famous tea comes from the same place!!) where we had a delicious dinner at the Village Inn. We also had a chance for a rousing game of skittles on the pubs alley, which was great fun and enjoyed by everyone! All in all it was a great day! Tomorrow we leave the Cotswolds for the excitement of London. Its hard to imagine that we only have three days left! Today was a day dedicated completely to fun as we headed south to the beautiful County of Devon, one of England's most beautiful and bucolic regions. Our first stop was at Powderham Castle, the home of Earl of Devon since the 1100s. During our tour we learned a great deal about how a dwelling is shaped by each succeeding generation who lives in it. We also learned a great deal about the symbolism of daily life as it was exemplified in paintings and art work of each period. Perhaps the highlight of the tour was the spectacular hand plastered foyer of the great house which took over three years to complete and where each sculpture was made by simply by movements of the palm and thumb. In the music room the Choristers sang an impromptu performance of Malcolm Archer's 23rd Psalm and Gregg Redner had a chance to play some Bach on the 18th Century House Organ. We were also fascinated by the inclusion of a great many secret doors, many of which our Choir got to operate! After our tour we adjourned to the Estate's Café for a delicious lunch, after which we headed off to view to huge Victorian Walled Garden and spend some time with various farm animals! Leaving Powderham Castle, we journeyed south to the seaside town of Dawlish. Unlike Llandudno, which is a real seaside resort, Dawlish is a classic southern England seaside town. One has the feeling that real people live and work here. The town is surrounded by beautiful red sandstone cliffs and there is a beautiful row brightly painted bathing shacks. We had told our tour guide that we hoped to go swimming but he was unconvinced that we would be able to stand the cold temperatures. However, as in Llandudno, we all brought our bathing gear and after changing, headed to the beautiful sandy beach. The temperature in the English Channel was 16 degrees and the water temperature was 15 degrees, but we took the plunge and managed to have a good 75 minute swim. We were all quite frozen at the end, but those on the beach seemed to understand our ability to stand the cold temperatures once they learned that we were Canadians! As one woman said to her husband upon learning our nationality, 'Oh, I knew it was something like that!!' After drying off and warming up we went to the loveliest little restaurant called 'The Ugley Ducking' for a delicious dinner of traditional English pies and a sumptuous array of desserts. After a two and half-hour ride home on the coach, we arrived home exhausted, but relaxed and happy! Ready to set forth tomorrow to the Cotswolds!
We apologize for the late posting tonight. We've had a bit of an issue with the hotel internet which seems to be slower than usual. For that reason tonight's post will also be slightly shorter than the past few nights' entries. This morning we left the hotel at 8:15 for the hour-long drive to Bristol Cathedral, one of the glories of Norman architecture in England. While not quite as challenging as our triple-header on Sunday, today's double-header including an afternoon recital in the Cathedral and a Choral Evensong (our final evensong of the trip!) at 5:15. The acoustic of the Cathedral is the most sumptuous that we have ever sung in, and we will never forget the look of awe on the faces of our Choristers as we began to rehearse for our recital. The sound simply could not be believed and there were several chords that lingered a good three to four seconds after the singing stopped. A really remarkable experience for a group which is used to singing with virtually no acoustic at all! The recital was extremely well-received by the good-sized crowd and the applause continued until after we had exited the Cathedral and were down in the cloister. There were so many warm and enthusiastic comments following the performance that we can't possibly put them all here, however, one man summed it up when he said "I have been coming to this Cathedral for over sixty years and that is some of the finest singing I have heard in my time here." Following a tour of the city we returned to the Cathedral to sing the final Evensong of our trip. The singing once again was extremely powerful and very beautiful and showed the tremendous growth that the choir has undergone over the last ten days. It truly is miraculous. Special thanks to Organ Scholar Renee Nikkel who played Vierne for the prelude with great style and beauty after only having a very brief chance to practice, and to our Precentor, Father Rick Wood, who once again sang the service with his usual aplomb. What a blessing he has been to us and how the Choristers have come to love him. Tomorrow we have a well-deserved day off as we head south to Devon. We will once brave the icy waters of the Irish Sea to the astonishment of British lookers-on. Today was move day as our itinerary reminded us, so it was important for us to listen to instructions and follow them carefully. However, for everyone what was most important was that today was a day off from singing! With great sadness we boarded the bus at 8:30 this morning to leave Chester, a place we have come to love. Along with Adam, our tour guide for this part of the trip, we drove through some beautiful countryside between Chester and Birmingham before getting on the M5 to head down to Tewkesbury. The name of the town is a derivation of the name of the monk named Theoc who began a hermitage there in the eighth century. This hermitage eventually grew into a glorious Norman abbey. Completed in 1121, the abbey prospered for over 400 years before being handed over to Henry VIII in 1540. Instead of allowing the abbey to be destroyed, the townspeople of Tewkebury banded together to purchase the abbey for the then enormous sum of 453 pounds. The tower is the largest and finest surviving Norman tower in the world. We began our free time in Tewkesbury with a fun boat cruise on the River Avon which gave us a chance to see the beautiful Gloucestershire scenery surrounding the town - and the sheep. It also helped us to understand why Tewkesbury floods regularly each year, sitting as it does by both the River Avon and the River Severn, which is the UK's longest river. After this we split up to have lunch, at various local establishments, both historic, such as the timber-framed The Bell, and more contemporary. A tour of the town following lunch gave us a chance to view some of Tewkesbury's other historic buildings, for example the Hop Pole, which Mr. Pickwick visits in Dickens' famous first novel. We also saw an enormous example of sixteenth-century half-timbering which is sadly falling into disrepair. Most interestingly, we learned that because of its position at the confluence of the Severn and Avon rivers and its proximity to Wales Tewkesbury was the site of the final and decisive battle of the War of the Roses in the fifteenth century. Because of this, many buildings in the town are decorated with royal standards of the various knights who fought in the battles. The history of each knight and his fate is also provided. The battle was so fierce that the main fighting ground is still referred to as the Bloody Meadow.
At the end of the tour we spent half an hour in Tewkesbury Abbey and to say it is breathtaking is a gross understatement. It is one of the finest extant examples of Norman architecture anywhere in the world (many of Britain's finest examples were destroyed in the sixteenth century dissolution of the monasteries). Remarkably, Gregg received a remarkable surprise when he met his old colleague and mentor Dr. Barry Rose in the quire preparing for Evensong with a visiting choir from Newport. This was a welcome reunion for Gregg as he readily admits that everything he knows about training children's choirs he learned at the feet of Dr. Rose. Checking in to our hotel in Cheltenham, the Holiday Express, went remarkably smoothly and quickly. Our hotel is very bright and modern inside. And perhaps most importantly, it has air-conditioning. A relaxing few hours getting settled in and a dinner at the hotel restaurant brought a pleasant day to its conclusion. Tomorrow we are off to Bristol for a lunchtime concert and an Evensong at the Cathedral. [layedToday, the day we had anticipated with either dread or excitement began with a 645 alarm and a quick breakfast at 730. After our usual walk twenty minute walk to Chester Cathedral, began rehearsals in the Song School for what always be known as our choir's 'Rubicon' day. Today we would sing twenty-nine pieces of music, spread over three services, which would happen over a six hour period. Today we sang full services of Choral Eucharist (with a mass setting), Choral Matins (replete with Venite, Te Deum and Jubilate) and our sixth Choral Evensong of the week. For the first two services Co-Director and Assistant Organist Catherine Gray ascended to the Organ Loft, while Gregg Redner took over the conducting duties. Prior to this Ms. Gray had been serving as the Conductor with Dr. Redner accompanying the choir. Our rehearsal began in the song school at 8 am, with sleepiness the order of the day. This was followed by a rehearsal in Cathedral Nave in preparation for the Cathedral Parish Eucharist. It was an unusual experience being outside the intimate confines of the Quire and under the Cathedral Tower in the Nave Choir Stalls. Over 350 people attended the Service and following it we were delighted to receive some very encouraging words of congratulations. The Eucharist was followed twenty minutes later by a full service of Choral Matins,a service which is new to the choir and for which we had a chance to sing our first set of Anglican Chants. For this service we returned to the Quire and the intimate confines of this beautiful space fit the mood of the service splendidly. The motet for the service was by the Canadian composer Godfrey Ridout, his four part a cappella setting of the Marian Hymn, 'Ave Maria'. The voluntaries, splendidly played by Catherine Gray were by Couperin and Buxtehude. Following Matins we took a two hour break to eat some lunch, including twenty-four freshly donuts from our new favourite donut shop called 'Dinky Donuts', which is located inside the Roman wall at the East Gate.
Choral Evensong was preceded by a rehearsal at 230 with the service at 330. The program included music by Aston, Totney and Will Todd. The Dean was extremely generous when she mentioned in her announcements that we had been singing at the Cathedral all week and that 'if this was people's first time hearing us, then they were in for a real treat!' Very kind words from a great Cathedral Church which truly understands the meaning of hospitality and welcome. Following the service, it was time to clean out our robes and music from the Song School and say goodbye to this beautiful building and splendid acoustic! To say that Catherine and I are proud of the choir would be an understatement. What they did today, and the manner in which they did it, have established them as a professional choir of the very highest order. It is truly hard to imagine that we have only been on this journey for three years. What has happened has truly been a miracle. Today truly bore that fact out! Saturday was primarily a workday for the Choristers. We started the day a bit later to allow everyone to sleep in a bit. Then after breakfast we headed to the Cathedral for a full morning of hard work on music for Saturday's Evensong (Bairstow in E-flat, Peter Nardone Preces and Responses, Psalm 61 and John Scott's anthem 'How can I keep from singing?' This was followed by a rehearsal which included the music for our three services on Sunday - Choral Eucharist, Choral Matins and Choral Evensong. An hour later and three psalms, nine hymns, a complete communion, morning and evening service, three Psalms, three anthems and two sets of responses later we emerged ready for some fun. Lucky for us it was the day of Chester Pride Parade and so while some of us went off to view the festivities, others went shopping and still others went to High Tea with our Precentor, Father Rick Wood and his lovely wife Caroline. High Tea was at the Booth Mansion and was exquisitely presented and very delicious. Following our lunch time adventures we reconvened at the Cathedral for practice for Evensong. The service went splendidly, again preceded by a beautifully played Prelude - 'Praeambulum' by Louis Vierne - played again by Organ Scholar Renee Nikkel. The Service, which contained a good deal of very challenging music was sung with great skill and style by our Choristers, who have improved each and every day at Chester.
Following the Service we went over the Procedural for tomorrow's Choral Eucharist with the Verger and then headed off to dinner and our hotel. Tomorrow is a very early day for the choir, with three full choral services in five and a half hours! Off to bed and sending lots of good wishes to those at home! Today included a great deal of fun as we explored the town and village across the Dee, visited Chester Castle and bought lunch at Marks and Spencer. But what today really included was some of the finest singing the choir has done to date. Our program included Ian Wicks wonderful 'Cherubini Service' and Paul Bryan's beautiful 'Evening Hymn'. The choir also chanted Psalm 53 & 54 and sang their first ever real and true Gregorian Office Hymn. Manifold full organ chords with sung high a's made for thrilling stuff in the Chester Cathedral acoustic! Last of all, Organ Scholar Renee Nikkel gave a thrilling performance of Bach's Prelude in F Major. Following Evensong we took a terrifying Ghost Tour with our favourite Guide, 'The Real Tom' Jones who led us through grave yard, church yard and city burial grounds, all replete with spine-tingling tales of horror! All in all a pretty special day!
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Met Choir School England Tour 2018 |