| Choir Tours |
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Choir Tours The Choir takes the opportunity to go on tour every summer. The annual choir tour either is both within in the UK or overseas. Overseas tours have included Salzburg, Northern France, the USA and Bermuda. As well as providing a chance to sing in different locations and allowing visits to places of interest in the region, they are great fun too. The Girls and Gentlemen made an inaugural trip in 2006, where they sang the service at Hereford Cathedral. In August 2009 the boys, girls and gentlemen, plus parent helpers, totalling over sixty went on tour to Dorset where they sang the services at Christ Church Priory. 2006 - Parish Choir Tour to Romsey Abbey and Girls & Men to Hereford Cathedral The Parish Choir (Boys and Gentlmen) sang at Romsey Abbey on 30 July 2006 They sang at the main morning Eucharist at 10.00 a.m. and at Choral Evensong at 6.30 p.m. During the day they enjoyed a picnic and took part in other activities. Head Chorister Paul Lewis wrote this piece for the parish magazine: “2006 - Parish Choir Tour to Romsey Abbey and Girls & Men to Hereford Cathedral On Sunday 30 July, very early in the morning, the men and boys from St Thomas’ choir, together with quite a lot of family supporters met up and headed off down the M3 for what was to be a lovely day out. We were invited to sing the day’s services at Romsey Abbey, a beautiful old church, in the middle of the pretty little town of Romsey. When we got down there, we had to have a rehearsal in the choir pews, and be shown how to process in and out by their jokey verger, and then we robed up and sang the Eucharist for a packed church. It was a lovely sunny day, and we had taken picnics to eat in the park. After that we played cricket and football, and even went on the playground, which Ryan (Deputy Head Chorister) had played on when he was younger and growing up in Romsey! Ryan’s mum knew that the local swimming pool complex was really good so we all went off there and had a great time in the whirlpools and on the flumes, while the men went off to look at some nearby National Trust Gardens. Then we had another rehearsal, and had to master a totally different way of processing in and out again, and then we sang Evensong in the Abbey and the sunlight was coming in through the windows at the west end of the church and made it look really amazing. Of course no choir outing would be the same if it didn’t include a trip to MacDonald’s, so we managed to find one nearby, but strangely the men said they would prefer to find a local tavern, whatever that is! Paul Lewis” The Girls Choir (with some of the men) sang at Hereford Cathedral from 21-23 August 2006 They sang at Evensong each evening and stayed at Leominster Youth Hostel. Various activities took part during each day. Team leader Ellie Powell wrote this piece for the parish magazine: “The choir trip tested us to our limits in singing (ed. That’s what they think anyway!) and taught us to listen. We sang a range of anthems, psalms and responses including ‘Morning Glory’ which had a solo sang magnificently by Sarah Zeiher our Deputy Head Chorister and a psalm with 40 verses! We slept well, when we weren’t gossiping about our great days! When we first saw the cathedral we all thought, WOW! Are we really singing in this huge building? It was beautiful! We had a great laugh. When we sang it echoed round the cathedral, it was wonderful. We stayed in a pretty little Youth Hostel in Leominster (near Hereford). It had comfortable rooms, and a TV room, where we were A LOT! The food was great and we were happy.” Ellie Powell 2005 - Beverley Minster At the end of July 2005 the Parish Choir made a successful trip to Beverley, singing the services at the Minster on 24 July and singing a concert at Holy Trinity, Hull (the largest parish church in England!) the night before. We stayed at the excellent Beverley Arms Hotel and made trips to Flamingoland, The Deep, The National Railway Museum, and spent some time on the beach in Bridlington 2004 - Tewkesbury Abbey 2004 saw a trip by the Parish Choir to sing at Tewkesbury Abbey, singing the services on the Sunday and staying at the Royal Hop Pole Hotel. Although a relatively short trip, we managed to fit in a tour of the Abbey, swimming, a trip on the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway, and a visit to the Cotswold Falconry Centre. 2003 - Southwark Cathedral A day spent singing the services at Southwark Cathedral. 2002 - Salzburg A tedious 24 hours on a coach (each way) was rewarded by a pleasant 5 day stay in Hüttau, Austria. From this base, we were able to sing concerts in the Lutheran church at Berchtesgaden (Germany) and Pfarrkirche St Michael, Mondsee (used for the wedding scene in the film "The Sound Of Music"). Following the concert in St Michael we sang during the Mass and then again in Salzburg Cathedral on the Sunday morning. We were very warmly welcomed and enthusiastically applauded at both services. When not singing we visited the absolutely excellent Berchtesgaden Salt Mines, took the ferry across the Wolfgangesee lake, visited Salzburg and relaxed! 2001 - Christchurch Priory We stayed in the UK for summer 2001 and sang the 3 services on Sunday 29th July at Christchurch Priory, Dorset. We took a long weekend break from the Friday to the Monday and the boys were able to go on trips to nearby beaches and the New Forest. 2000 - Northern France As with the 1999 tour, a relaxing week was spent in Northern France where we sang concerts in Coutances Cathedral, Villedieu-les-Poêles and in the 10th century church at St Jean-le-Thomas in the town where we were staying. Despite having been arranged at short notice, the townspeople of St Jean-le-Thomas filled the small church and were hugely enthusiastic in their support. When not singing there was time for the beach, shopping, a trip to the very busy Mont St Michel and for some of the gentlemen, golfing or a day trip to Jersey. 1999 - Northern France A week in Northern France with concerts in Coutances Cathedral, the Abbaye de La Lucerne and Villedieu-les-Poêles. Recreational visits were made to Mont St Michel, the Normandy invasion beaches and to the world-famous Bayeux Tapestry. 1998 - Wales A week in Wales with concerts in Machynlleth and Aberystwyth and as part of the Aberystwyth Festival 1997 - USA and Bermuda Ten days in the USA and Bermuda. The USA leg of the tour included services and concerts in St Bartholomew's church and St Patrick's (Roman Catholic) Cathedral in New York city, concerts in Princeton University Chapel and the Old South Church in Boston. Whilst in Bermuda we sang services at the cathedral in Hamilton (the capital) of which Matins was broadcast live on the radio and also a concert at St Mark's Church in Smiths Parish. 1996 - Exeter Cathedral</br> A week of singing the services at Exeter Cathedral. 1995 - Central France A week in Central France including well-attended and enthusiatically received concerts at Preuilly sur Claise, the medieval Collégiale St Ours in Loches and at the Abbey de Fleury in St-Benoît-sur-Loire (near Orléans). We were honoured to be allowed to sing an anthem during the service of Vespers given by the monks of the Abbey de Fleury. 1994 - Ripon Cathedral A week of singing the services at Ripon Cathedral. Tours were taken to the nearby ruins of Fountains Abbey and Rievaulx Abbey. |