St Patrick’s Cathedral choir, Dublin, completed a successful trip to England last month.
The choir sang a lunchtime concert at Birmingham Cathedral on Friday 5th August and
Evensong on Saturday 6th August at Gloucester Cathedral and both services there
on Sunday 7th August. Under the able and enthusiastic direction of Mr Stuart
Nicholson, the choir was warmly received at both cathedrals. The boy choristers
and the gentlemen thoroughly enjoyed singing at the two cathedrals, and some met
up with old acquaintances there. This was the first choir trip for some of the boy
choristers, and they enjoyed the experience of singing in different cathedrals, as
well as a visit to Cadbury World!
Commenting on the trip in the current edition of Close News, the Precentor, Canon RobertReed writes:
“It is right to give our thanks and praise.
“Thanks to Mr Nicholson and to Mr Leigh, to the lay vicars, to the choristers and to
the Dean’s Vicar and supervisors, Vic, Liz, Averill and Bernie, who contributed to
the success of the tour. Thanks, of course, to those who subscribed to the costs;
namely the Cathedral Board, The Society of the Friends and the sponsors of the
choristers as well as to the parents for their fund raising.
“It is always a pleasure to accompany the tour for many reasons. Firstly, in support
of the choir so that they may sense their value to us all. Most enjoyably is the
opportunity to hear the excellent talent in new settings and to realise how fortunate
we are in achieving such marvellous standards. Verbal compliments, as well, uplift
the spirits. New perspectives on the liturgy are interesting and valuable. There is
also the refreshment of interacting with colleagues and to witness the bonding
amongst the participants. The leisure activities are equally important and, let’s
face it; what can beat Cadbury World?
“May I reassure every one of the worth of such tours. May I thank those who
invested their time in planning, organising, supervising and participating in the
memorable event. For the supervisors it was 24/7! Not exactly a holiday! They are
worthy of our thanks and praise. Every success to Mr Nicholson with his next
venture!”
CHORISTER COMMENTS
And the Choristers were unanimous about the highlights of the tour:
Team Hewson
I liked the THINKTANK because there was a talking robot – we made it sound
really funny. We went to CADBURY WORLD we got to taste the chocolate it was
lovely.
Thomas Maxwell (team captain); Rian Middleton & Brad Hennessy
Team Grieg
The best moment was CADBURY WORLD; we went to Cadbury World, one of
the best bits was when we got to eat melted chocolate. Another great bit was going
through the factory and seeing all of the chocolate bars. We had a great time.
Conor Kostick (team captain); Luke Stanley & Christopher May
Team Dexter
We really liked the cars in Cadbury world, and the chocolate. We liked England
(despite the rain). Gloucester Cathedral was huge! We really liked the Hostel. The
boat trip was fun!
Jonathan Stanley (team captain); Cameron Lally & Alexander Smith
Team Barley
The coolest thing was that Harry Potter was made there (Gloucester
Cathedral).Then we went to CADBURY WORLD and it was really cool. We got
to see how all the chocolate was made. Then we went on this ride – it was funny.
We went to the THINKTANK and it was deadly! We went to a dinosaur
exhibition.
James McCormack & Ben Middleton (team captains)