Bromsgrove School’s Chapel Choir gave a triumphant performance on Monday in the heart of London at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Following on from their impressive performances in New York in the Cathedral in Central Park and a Church on Fifth Avenue in 2010, and in Lincoln Cathedral in 2011, the Choir were proud to sing in the inspiring setting of St Paul’s. The Choir of over 50 pupils was supported by over 200 audience members who had travelled to see them perform – including parents, Old Bromsgrovians of all ages, governors and staff.
The Choir rehearsed in the Crypt and then above ground, to the delight of hundreds of tourists. In the evening the Chapel Choir sang beautifully throughout as their young voices echoed in the immense building. They sang Psalm 17 with great precision and in Noble’s carefully-crafted canticles they powerfully rose to the great crescendos, but captured perfectly the unusually peaceful ‘Amens’ at the end of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. In the all-important unaccompanied Responses and Lord’s Prayer they reached excellence. In their major work – the Anthem – the Choir sang Brahms’ ‘How lovely are thy dwellings’ from his Requiem.
They were thrilled and fulfilled by the experience and delighted by the well-nigh flawless performance and the kind words of so many adults afterwards, including the warm welcome from the clergy and a prayer for the Choir and School.
Deputy Headmaster Philip Bowen said: “It was a wonderful day for the Choir and for all at the Service a lifelong memory that has already entered the annals of our great history. We congratulate them on an outstanding achievement – not just their musical accomplishment but their courage too. And as always it happens after many months of patient, painstaking and dedicated practice. I pay tribute also to the School’s Director of Music, Mr Jonathan Kingston, who inspired them to such heights and to Assistant Director, Mr Richard Knight, who played the Willis organ. It was one of the most thrilling events in the School’s recent history.”