NEWS BRIEFS

Music in Derry

Music at St. Columb’s Cathedral (photo above) continued this week with performances by Foyle College yesterday and the U3A Choir on Saturday 14th December (1.00-1.45pm).

On Sunday, as usual at 11.00am, there is a service of Choral Eucharist with music by Harold Darke (Communion service in F) and Edward Elgar (Ave Verum Corpus).

Then at 4.00pm, the Cathedral Choir sing at Choral Evensong. Music is by Tertius Noble – Evening canticles in B minor and ‘The truth from above’ arranged by Vaughan Williams as the anthem.

On Monday evening, the Cathedral Chamber Choir join a number of local schools to sing at the Joint Emergency Services Carol Service, beginning at 7.30pm.

All are welcome for all events.

Carols in the city

Take a break from all that Christmas shopping this Thursday night, December 12th and drop in to Victoria Square, Belfast, where the choir of St George’s Parish Church will be singing carols from 8.30pm to 10pm.

Queen’s students take up knightly challenge

Fourteen young men from Queen’s University Belfast along with chaplain Fr Dominic McGrattan were inducted as members of the Order of Knights of St Columbanus in a ceremony at the chaplaincy.

Through prayer and apostolic service, the order seeks to defend and promote the Catholic faith, foster fraternity among members and reach out to those in need. The ceremony took place in the presence of family, friends and senior members of the order.

K is for King’s College, Cambridge

It’s unlikely that you have been taken by surprise that today Friends of Cathedral Music are featuring the choir responsible for the most famous choral Christmas broadcast in the world.

Did you know that this year, the first for the choir’s new Director, Daniel Hyde, will be the 100th anniversary of the singing of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ at the opening of the service? Although the Festival began in 2018, as a way of marking the end of the First World War and the losses suffered by the college during that conflict, ‘Once in Royal’ was not used until the following year. Perhaps being the boy to sing the solo on its 100th anniversary will make it extra special for whichever chorister is chosen, at the very last minute, to sing the first verse live on air.

Today, the choristers and choral scholars at King’s are busy rehearsing and doing sound checks with the BBC ahead of the filming of Carols from Kings. A little-known fact is that they also record ‘Easter from Kings’ at the same time! And the work goes on; before the famous Christmas Eve service, the choir is also performing its annual Christmas concert at the Barbican Hall in London.

But Christmas Eve is one of the choristers’ favourite days; after the service their families all gather together and share a big meal in celebration. No doubt this will be tinged with sorrow this year as they remember the sad loss of former director and president of FCM Sir Stephen Cleobury.

Sir Stephen and his unparalleled contribution to cathedral music will be very greatly missed but his wonderful legacy lives on, and we are excited to hear the choir sing under their new director this Christmas Eve.

https://fcm.org.uk/news/k-kings-college-chapel/

Saint Luke’s Home Christmas Concert in Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral

The magnificent Majella Cullagh

Friends, supporters, volunteers and staff gathered in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork, on November 27 for the 3rd Annual Christmas Concert for St Luke’s Home and what a great concert it turned out to be.

The Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Elmarie Mawe, welcomed everyone and set the tone for what was to be a glorious evening of jazz, opera, Christmas favourites and of course, the grand finale, O Holy Night. The ever popular and fantastic Band of the 1st Brigade kicked everything off and nearly had the audience dancing in the pews from the get go! Their versions of The Thin Red Line and Rhapsody in Blue were simply stunning.

Majella Cullagh took centre stage then with Rossini’s Una voce poco fa and Song to the Moon from Dvorak’s Rusalka. The choir from Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School were fantastic with their version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and then were joined by Majella for Gesu Bambino before the Band of the 1st Brigade stormed everyone to the interval with a salute to American jazz!

The second half was all about the wonderful Montfort’s Youth Choir with a super version of Have yourself a merry little Christmas and Majella’s Chestnuts roasting on an open fire and Let it snow, let it snow.

After a Christmas sing–a–long involving everyone in the Cathedral, Majella finished with a standing ovation after her stand out performance of Oh Holy Night.

All in all it was a great evening of uplifting and seasonal music which certainly marked, for all those in the Cathedral, the start of the festive celebrations!

Organisers of the concert, a fundraiser for Saint Luke’s Home, were delighted with the turnout and would like to thank everyone involved for their support for the Charity. All funds raised will be put towards the Therapy and Activity Programme for the residents living at St Luke’s. This programme includes essentials such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy to name just a very few, and is currently not funded through the Fair Deal Funding Scheme, nor are families charged for it.

Graham Jones remembered at service in Christ Church Cathedral

Graham Jones wanted everyone to be part of the family and kingdom of God, the Archbishop of Dublin told a packed Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday past (December 8). Family, friends and people who had been associated with the many different facets of his life filled the cathedral for a Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving for the life of the Revd Graham Jones.

The service took place one year to the day after Graham’s death and Archbishop Michael Jackson noted that it was a testament to the graciousness and generosity of his family that they suggested that date to remember him publicly. Graham’s family played a large part in the service with his father David and brother Stephen reading lessons and his wife Louise and their daughters Romy, Amelia–Grace and Rebecca reading prayers. His brother Rob, with whom Graham shared ordained ministry, was among the clergy who robed for the service.

Graham was ordained a deacon in Christ Church Cathedral in September last year. He was ordained to the priesthood in November last year in St Catherine’s Church, Thomas Street. He died on December 8 last year.

In his sermon the Archbishop noted that Graham had a full and enriching life before he responded to God’s call to ordination. Immediately after he was ordained a priest he asked Archbishop Jackson what he wanted him to do and the Archbishop replied: “build community”. And this was what he did, celebrating Holy Communion first in the Beacon with his immediate family and then gathering different circles and proving himself to be irrepressible and inspirational while retaining a God First approach to everything he did.

The Archbishop described Graham as pneumatic, prophetic and pragmatic. “Graham lived in and with the Spirit of God; this is what I mean by pneumatic. But in that other use of the word: pneumatic, he was always drilling down to what really mattered, to the spiritual essentials of human being,” he said, adding that Graham led everyone he met into the dynamic interplay and outworking of God in the world. “The water and the fire of the Holy Spirit; the light of Christ; the public face of God among the uncomprehending and silent majority; this is where Graham was; this is where he made the best of it and where he was at his best starting in his beloved Liberties in Dublin 8.”

“The Spirit of God raced through Graham’s body and his mind, giving him an ever widening horizon not least as physical immobility took its punishing and its cruel toll on him and on all members of his family. The prophetic combination of word and action drew people to him as it also drew him to new and uncharted situations. This is where he kept identifying new problems and offering fresh solutions. The instinct for problem–solving enabled him to share what nobody else had yet seen – and, in ways, this has proved to be his most enduring gift. As Graham died, he enabled us all to cope, he enabled us all to live and he enabled us all to grow in faith, in hope and in love. Graham always remained personal and present. These are gifts we will never forget,” he continued.

There was no doubt, Archbishop Jackson said, about Graham’s love for his family. But at the same time he wanted everyone to be part of the family and the kingdom of God. “To him there was no contradiction, there was simply continuity and community and communion. And in his one month on earth as an ordained priest, Graham celebrated communion vigorously and as he had always done, but with a new focus and a new grace from God. We will not see his like again; we are privileged – all of us – to have been with him for a season. May God continue to hold and uphold our friend Graham,” he concluded.