Choir debuts at Westminster Abbey

More than fifty top notch choral singers from the Cathedral, ranging in ages from eight to sixty-eight sang services at three important venues in the UK earlier this month. The first ever Christ Church Cathedral overseas choir tour wrapped up late last week as the satisfied participants and their families returned home to Vancouver Island, full of memories and a renewed commitment to choral singing.  

The trip represents three years of planning and fundraising which engaged hundreds of Victoria residents. The music sung by the choirs was uniformly lauded and appreciated at all three venues and even attracted an invitation to return to sing future services at Westminster Abbey, something the group will be considering in the future.  

The initiative was spearheaded by Christ Church Cathedral’s Director of Music, Donald Hunt, who worked as a musician in UK cathedrals before moving to Victoria. “For me, there was a great sense of satisfaction that we were able to come together and so consistently put our best foot forward, representing our cathedral and our city.” Hunt said. “Though we don’t sing for praise or adulation, it’s nice to have received such positive feedback from everywhere we sang services – this will give us energy to keep offering beautiful music at the cathedral for many years to come.”  

The cathedral Young Choristers (aged 8 to 13), who participated fully in the daily sung services for the ten-day tour, had some feedback to share about their experience:   ·        

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)  

For a day-by-day account of the tour with photographs and links to video, please visit our tour blog HERE.