St Albans Ex-Choristers Association Inaugural Evensong Raises the Roof!

Ex-choristers, lay clerks, organists and organ scholars gathered on Saturday, 30 June for a fantastic Evensong in the Cathedral Quire. Over 100 voices including those of the current Cathedral and Abbey Girls Choirs produced a stirring and roof-raising sound which drew enthusiastic and moving reactions from those who listened as well as those who participated - 'thrilling', 'awesome', 'spine-tingling' - were just some of the comments overheard.

Andrew Lucas, current Master of the Music, said 'it was a wonderful experience for me to conduct what turned out to be a really skilled group of musicians, stretching back over the decades - fullness of the sound was wonderful and there is great scope for further musical adventures. It was a particularly rich and emotionally charged experience that I found quite humbling as well as thrilling and something most of us there will probably not forget in a hurry'.

Well.........that was fun!

The Reception afterwards was a joyful occasion as we welcomed friends and families and people of different ages and choral eras greeted familiar, and not so familiar, faces - after all, twenty years can be quite a long time! The photographs* on this page reflect some of the pleasure, fun and excitement that was generated during the evening.

Thanks go to the Dean and the Cathedral Music Trust for supporting the event and to the Chairman of the FCOCA, Gordon Hughes, and his colleague James Finch, Honorary Secretary of Canterbury Cathedral Old Choristers Association for attending and giving their support.

Finally, our thanks to all of you who attended with such enthusiasm and commitment - there is now work to be done in establishing the Association on a firmer footing, some people have volunteered their services, if you too have something to offer please get in touch via music@stalbanscathedral.org.uk.

*Our thanks to John and Verena Sparrow

The St Albans Ex-Choristers Association now has it's own website at http://www.stalbans-exchoirassoc.co.uk/