The Final Round-up

Hearts full of memories, bags full of laundry, our merry band at Heathrow airport, ready to return home!

For our final blog post, Director of Music, Donald Hunt, provides his thoughts and pulls together the high points of the Cathedral Choirs’ first ever UK tour.

I must admit to a certain amount of hesitancy toward writing about this tour in the past tense. Now nestled into a family gathering in the English west country for a few days of respite and recovery, with three impressive cathedrals all within an hour’s drive (Exeter, Wells, and Salisbury), perhaps I could just call everyone back and keep going, keep offering daily worship, keep immersing ourselves in this beautiful, life-giving tradition. If I don’t write about it, maybe it’s not over yet. 

But the truth is that all good things must come to an end. To call the last ten days “good” is an example of British understatement. Musically, there were moments of sheer ecstasy... 

But for me, the musical highlight was perhaps more understated: an unaccompanied Friday Evensong in St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh – most cathedrals dispense with the organ on Fridays to pay homage to Christ’s death on the cross – day four of consecutive singing, Mark was conducting, I was in the congregation, simultaneously trying to worship and chase around my 18-month-old toddler, and it struck me that the sound emanating from those fifty singers could easily measure up to what is offered daily by many professional UK cathedral choirs. 

This was consistent with the feedback we received from clergy and worshippers where we sung. At St George’s Windsor from the Canon in Residence: “Well-chosen music, nicely sung” (again, British understatement) and an invitation to return the next day; at Westminster Abbey, a follow-up email from the Minor Canon organizing our visit with a warm invitation to return. And at St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, after the Sunday Choral Eucharist, uniformly complimentary feedback from the congregation about our singing of one of their favourite settings, Jonathan Dove’s tricky Missa Brevis. 

There’s so much about our corporate experience which will last in our memories and inform the way we do things back home. For the Young Choristers, their overwhelmingly stand-out experience was going to Harry Potter Studio in London and seeing how those iconic films were made. But it’s clear to me that they bonded through their musical achievements as much as their downtime together. We asked them to put their thoughts in writing: 

My favourite building to sing in was Westminster Abbey because it was amazing to hear our sound fill the wonderful space. - Maya, grade 6 

Next year in Choristers, I am looking forward to seeing the new kids who join and introducing them to the glorious, but sometimes difficult, music we sing – Catherine, grade 7 

I loved York Minster, as it was huge! - Liam, grade 7 - Evren, grade 6 

I learned that a lot of practice pays off. -Finn, grade 8 

What I learned was what it might be like to sing in the older choir. My favourite thing about this trip was seeing and singing in new places and being able to do that with friends. -Nate, grade 9 (graduate)

This pilgrimage has been over three years in the making and has very much been a group effort. I am deeply grateful to the members of the itinerary planning and fundraising committees for their tireless work leading up to our departure. I am indebted to Mark McDonald for his stylish organ accompaniment throughout, and I am incredibly thankful for our team of chaperones, all of whom worked eighteen-hour days (at least) to ensure the well-being of all the minors. 

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the support of the Christ Church Cathedral clergy, congregation and musical community. My heartfelt gratitude for your support. If you’ve read all the daily blogs and managed to make it to the end of this final dispatch, thank you for following us from home, for your engagement in this important work, and for your belief in the transformative power of choral singing. 

If this is the first you're reading about our choir tour, you can review the entire trip on our blog HERE.