The Chamber Choir sing at Canterbury Cathedral

We were delighted to once again take part in the St Edmund’s Gala Concert last week. Our Chamber Choir had been preparing all term, with extra rehearsals during the evenings and visits from Mr Payne, Director of Music at St Edmund’s.

The concert took place in the beautiful setting of Canterbury Cathedral and as always it was a privilege to be involved in such a spectacular concert. To make the evening even more memorable for the children, we all had a delicious dinner at Prezzo in Canterbury beforehand, being careful not to spill food on our uniforms!

During the first half we listened to a variety of music performed by soloists, a brass ensemble and the St Edmund’s Orchestra. After the interval, the children performed ‘Hear my words, ye people’ by Hubert Parry and Franz Schubert’s ‘Mass in C’ – a repertoire which would normally be performed by adults. Our children rose to the challenge brilliantly!

They were accompanied by a professional orchestra and joined St Edmund’s Choral Society, St Edmund’s pupils and the Cathedral Choristers in a choir numbering around 200 voices. It was also good to see former St Faith’s pupils Evelina, Arabella and Meena who are now at St Edmund’s and also took part in the concert. Evelina is the only student in Years 7 & 8 who is a member of the Orchestra – perhaps not surprising, as she left St Faith’s as a Grade 8 flute player!

As the concert ended at around 9:30pm, there were a few tired children the following day, but they all
have memories of a spectacular concert which will last a lifetime. Thank you very much to Mr Payne for inviting us to be involved. This type of collaboration with another school is very rewarding for our children and offers a wonderful opportunity to sing alongside members of other choirs.