Tour Reports 2015

Back: Tours 2015 - 2011 

Ely Cathedral - April 2015 

It is always a pleasure to become part of these wonderful places and Ely was no exception.  The staff were helpful and supportive to us.  We are always surrounded by art and history.  The carving above the choir stalls was beautiful and the stained glass window to the Bomber Group was especially poignant.

We had the wonderful experience of singing Evensong in the Lady Chapel.  The acoustic is fantastic – spine tingling.  Even the statue of Our Lady showed how amazing it is!

Under John’s direction, we seem to be moving towards becoming a proper ‘choir’.  It was good to see many new faces – welcome to you all.  It was gratifying to see that notes had been learnt before.  This is imperative so that we can concentrate on producing the real sound at these weekends without having to waste time note bashing.

Ely’s lack of suitable accommodation presented some logistical issues for the committee as the hotel was 30 to 40 minutes drive away. But thanks to their efforts, all went smoothly and again shows we work well together.  The vision of ‘The Ship of The Fens’ looming as we neared it was evocative.  The first day, we wandered through the grounds in search of the Music School, to see the beacon of Sandra outside the gate to guide us in!

I always enjoy the fellowship and friendship of these weekends.

Rosemary Humphries

Ripon is in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales: a most beautiful city with picturesque surrounding countryside. As we all met on Thursday at the Ripon Spa Hotel it was clear that friendships were renewed, although we were disappointed that some of our dear friends and singers could not be with us on this visit, all for various reasons personal to themselves. The Ripon Spa Hotel proved to be the best hotel in which we have stayed - it had an old world charm, maybe a little dated, but we could not fault the friendliness of the staff and the superb quality of the food. Indeed it was a question of who could be first at the dessert buffet as the puddings were so tempting and delicious.

But to the singing. The first night’s rehearsal was a good warm up as we were again treated to John Naylor’s high standards and his mission to improve  our performance levels each time we meet. It was lovely to see Will again and we were able to congratulate Will and Flora on their 7th Wedding Anniversary on the Saturday night.

The Thorpe Prebend House was a convenient building in which to rehearse, store our gowns and take refreshments. The ladies did threaten the gentlemen with a washing up rota… maybe next time gentlemen?

Friday’s rehearsal went well until we arrived in the choir stalls when our performance was a little tentative. But at Evensong we rose to the occasion and all agreed that we loved both the Michael Wise setting and the Salvator Mundi by Tallis, and we were able to dispel our fears of the Ebdon responses. The Cathedral staff expressed pleasure in having us lead their worship and indeed they were most friendly and helpful. We had worked hard all day Friday and felt such a relief, all this a confidence booster for the rest of the weekend.

John, as usual, had planned the music with thought: some we knew, some to learn and some to improve upon. This is sometimes a challenge but so rewarding as with the ‘Like as the Hart’ Howells anthem at Saturday’s evensong. We were transported to another world, all the precise details from rehearsal were observed which resulted in excellence.

An early start on Sunday meant a quick run-through of the order of service and music for Eucharist. We had all found it strange on Saturday sitting in the nave but, at the appointed time, we adjusted and, afterwards, we all commented on how much we had enjoyed the service. All went well and it was nice to socialise with the congregation over coffee after the service when we received many comments of congratulations for our singing. The sermon was like a foreign language or something from a Mr Bean sketch for some of us as we could not hear. The anthem by John Benson, although simple, was a delight. With an introduction by a small group of singers, it had charm in performance.

Sunday lunchtime, and in the long break members were either able to journey the few miles to Fountains Abbey, take in the museums, sit in the park and listen to the brass band or, for some, have a lie down ready for the last lap.

The MacMillan anthem, ‘The Lamb has come’ has become a favourite with many of us and was sung  with a sensitive  interpretation of the text and a magnificent organ accompaniment by Will. The Christiana Canticles by Rutter are such a contrast to the Wood in E flat and has helped to widen our repertoire. They were a perfect ending to what had been one of our best weekends ever, both singing and socially. Much of this is due to the superb leadership of John and his high standards, Will’s expertise on the organ and the planning from our management committee. We do all appreciate the hard work that you put in to making each visit a success.

Apparently, it had been over twenty years since the OUCC had visited Ripon. It was suggested that we should not leave it that long again.

As we departed after Sunday Evensong, saying our goodbyes, we all arranged to meet again next Easter when we will be singing in Peterborough Cathedral. As Christmas is left behind we will be looking forward to our e-mail communication from Ester.

Pamela S.V. Coates MA

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