Latest News
from Wells Cathedral Choir
On Saturday 5th of September, former Wells Chorister Harriet (Hattie) Peck married organist Robert Smith in the Lady Chapel of Wells Cathedral in a socially distanced ceremony. It was a lovely day with lots of sunshine and included a beautiful rendition of ‘Where’er you Walk’ sung by Old Wellensian, Kirsty Hobkirk. Hattie and Robert met in York where they were both members of the York Oratory choir.
Congratulations to the new Dr and Mrs Pecksmith!
Glad to be back! Photo: © Jason Bryant
Saturday saw a very special moment in the life of Wells Cathedral. After an absence of over six months, the Cathedral Choir once again sang at Choral Evensong. Carefully spaced so as to follow current guidelines, the Choir was divided into two groups - Decani singing on the Nave Dais, and Cantoris at the West End. The Choristers had been rehearsing since Thursday morning - a heart-in-mouth moment for Director of Music, Jeremy Cole, who had no idea as to what shape they would be in after such a long break. But all their previous training, maintained as best as had been possible via Zoom sessions in lockdown, had of course paid off and they were soon back in fine voice. With music by Bruckner, Stanford, Gibbons and David Goodenough, all sung to a socially-distanced capacity congregation, it was a wonderfully affirming experience for all to hear the Choir’s voices once again filling that glorious space. It is wonderful to have them back.
As is usually the case at the beginning of the academic year, the service gave opportunity to welcome the newest members of the Music Foundation; the six new Probationers - Clementine, Naomi, Michael, Alma, Stanley, and Joseph; two new Organ Scholars - François and June; and not forgetting our new Assistant Director of Music, Alexander Hamilton. We offer them all the warmest of welcomes to Wells.
Elsa joined Daniel and George to serve as Head Choristers for the coming year; and Elizabeth, Gabriel, and Shannon are to serve as Deputy Head Choristers.
For the first time three Choristers were also admitted to named Choristerships, all of which have been founded in memory of three former members of the Cathedral foundation who had a particular love of the Cathedral music. Elizabeth was admitted to the Choristership in memory of Dean Patrick Mitchell; Hannah to the Choristership in memory of Jean Lewis; and Emily to the Choristership in memory of Elsa van der Zee.
The new Probationers
The Heads, Deputy Heads and those Choristers who have been awarded named Choristerships
Last but certainly not least, we offer our heartfelt congratulations to those choristers who have passed their year's probation and were admitted to the choir as full surpliced choristers - Elizabeth, Madeleine, Belinda, Oliver, Hannah, Aleksei, Emily, Freya, and Natasha. Well done all!
The newly surpliced Choristers
Alexander Hamilton, our new Assistant Director of Music
The Choir will continue in its divided form at the weekly services for the immediate future. The Vicars Choral will sing Evensong on Mondays; the Cantoris Choristers and Vicars Choral will singing Evensong on Tuesdays; the Decani Choristers and Vicars Choral will singing Evensong on Thursdays; and the weekend’s services will be divided on a alternating basis. Full details of the services for the next two weeks can be downloaded here.
Please see below for further photographs from the service.
We are very grateful to Jason Bryant for taking these for us.
Over the past few days the Cathedral’s Mistress of the Wardrobe, Mrs Jenny Henderson, has been undertaking her usual pre-term job of fitting the Choristers’ vestments. However, with social distancing in place, this process was a little different to normal. In the photos below, we caught up with Jenny as she fitted George’s cassock and surplice this afternoon. You can read more about Jenny’s role here.
Dear Friends,
It’s so good to be in touch after a subdued and difficult period since Covid19 changed our lives. Enough of Covid... onwards.
We're delighted that this coming weekend the Choir will be returning to sing in Wells Cathedral after such a long enforced absence. We look forward to hearing them make music together once again. Below, you can read a message from Jeremy Cole, Director of Music, telling us a little more about how he and his team have been working hard for this moment.
Saturday 10 October is the Annual WCCT Evensong, and we will use this occasion to launch the Iain Ball Chorister Award. More details to follow but for now please save the date and join us.
A New Patron
I’m delighted to say that David Morgan-Hewitt has agreed to become a Patron of the WCCT, and he shares my enthusiasm for the Trust. Like me, he is a former Cathedral Chorister and we sang together in Three Choirs events, me with Peterborough, and David with Norwich, together with Ely. They were glorious days and he was a junior chorister whilst I was ‘almost over the hill’! I have no doubt at all that he will be a significant friend to the Trust, with ideas, suggestions and wisdom along the way. David introduces himself in a message that you can read here.
Welcome Hannah Unwin
I’m thrilled to announce that after a robust application process, as a Trust we now have our own permanent Administrator, Hannah Unwin, who will work on the mornings of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Welcome Hannah.
The Trust has for some years funded part-time occasional help from the school but by redirecting that contribution we are now able to have our own dedicated person. As ever thank you to Wells Cathedral School, and now especially for finding Hannah a desk and a room to share.
Hannah has been with us for two weeks and her initial task is getting to grips with a new software system, which we have explored and selected during lockdown. This will enable us to be in touch with the friends and supporters of the Trust, managing responses etc. A kind donor has created an ‘Enablement Fund’ which we can use for such items as Hannah’s laptop, printer, and also a dedicated Trust telephone line which will soon be up and running.
We’re getting there, so watch this space, and thank you for your ‘love for the Chorister Cause’.
Contact Us
Remember, having been a Cathedral Chorister and also a parent of three former Wells Cathedral Choristers, I am committed as Chairman, and value hugely your love for the Choristers, your interest and your generosity. You are very welcome to email me at any time via chairman@wcct.co.uk; I am always delighted to hear from any of you! We are also always delighted to hear from new supporters of the Cathedral Choir, so please feel free to forward this email to your friends and family and perhaps encourage them to sign up to our newsletter here.
More than ever the Trust needs to be in a position to support Choristers and their families, and these very special young professional singers are the future of the unique Cathedral Music tradition.
At the superb performance of Brittens A Ceremony of Carols in January, I invited those present to reflect for a moment on a life without Choristers. Little did I know that was on the horizon. We’ve so missed the Choristers.
You are part of a family that love the Choristers and The Chorister Cause, and one of my tasks is to bring you all together and to grow the family. More details to follow.
Very best wishes,
Arnold Wills
Chairman
A Message from the Director of Music
Greetings to all our supporters! It’s been a year unlike any other for the Cathedral Choir, and for the Choral Tradition as a whole, and hopefully one that won’t be repeated. Many of you will have followed our online offerings during lockdown, and we thank you for your engagement with those. It was way back on 17 March that it became clear the Choir wouldn’t be able to sing together for a while. As a temporary farewell, the Choristers, Sub-Assistant Organist David Stevens and I made a hasty video recording of Gary Davison’s O Lord, support us all the day long – the text of which took on a particular poignancy that day.
There followed much thought about how the Choristers could continue during the pandemic, to carry their musical education, to keep in touch with them and make sure the community was still alive, and also to provide some sort of musical offering to those people who would miss coming into the Cathedral each day to be involved in choral services. The Choristers and I continued to meet regularly via Zoom, which was a very useful way of being able to see and hear them. There were some frustrations along the way, thanks to unreliable internet, technical glitches and the rest - any attempt at ensemble singing quickly collapsed in chaos! However, small group sessions working on the technical aspects of singing, and learning bits and pieces of repertoire, were quite successful. The Choristers also made two virtual recordings, one of which was of a hymn for Easter Day and was well-received by our online community. The other, of Peter Hurford’s Litany to the Holy Spirit, was released to mark Pentecost.
Nearly six months later, the time has finally arrived when the Choir can return to singing again. This is extremely welcome news, but unfortunately it won’t be ‘business as usual’ quite yet, as we have to do everything we can to provide a safe environment for all our singers and music staff in the midst of Covid-19. Following government guidelines and professional recommendations, the Choristers and the Vicars Choral will be singing in two separate groups for the time being. There will be 15 Choristers and 6 Vicars Choral in each choir, and they will split the singing of services between them.
Our first Evensong back will have both choirs present in the Cathedral, but singing separately from two ends of the building. Within the choirs, the singers will all be spaced 2 metres apart, with their seats in an interlocked formation to prevent anyone singing over anyone else. There have also been many Covid-related logistical challenges to do with rehearsals, copies of music, robes and many other things! This will be our ‘new normal’ for the time being, and I’m sure we will adjust quickly and enjoy making music together again. After such a long time away, it will be a joy to restart our great tradition, and hopefully it will to be too long before the Choir can all sing with one voice once again.
Jeremy Cole
Director of Music
Written by Beth (12) and Belinda (9) - pictured above in the recording studio
We both entered an on-line international singing competition during lockdown. The competition was called Unlock Your Talent, and had celebrity judges and people competing from as far away as Australia. It was lovely to be singing as we had missed Wells Cathedral so much.
Beth entered the 12 to 18 category, singing Amarilli Mia Bella by Caccini; and Belinda the 6 to 11 category, singing Wishing you were Somehow Here Again by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
We were thrilled to find that we had both made it through not only the first round, but the semi-finals and then to the finals, with each round being re-judged.
Out of hundreds of entries, the final results were a second place for Beth and a third place for Belinda in their respective categories!
We had some beautiful comments and were so pleased. The judges described Beth’s performance as ‘spine-tingling’ and ‘crystal clear’, and she had a special mention from opera singer David Webb. Belinda’s performance was described as ‘brilliant with a truly beautiful sound’.
We were so delighted with our results and send thanks to Mr Cole for his encouragement and for allowing us to take part. We can’t wait to be back singing together as a choir soon.
I’m delighted to say that David Morgan-Hewitt has agreed to become a Patron of the WCCT, and he shares my enthusiasm for the Trust. Like me, he is a former Cathedral Chorister and we sang together in Three Choirs events, me with Peterborough, and David with Norwich, together with Ely. They were glorious days and he was a junior chorister whilst I was ‘almost over the hill’! I have no doubt at all that he will be a significant friend to the Trust, with ideas, suggestions and wisdom along the way. David introduces himself in a message below.
Arnold Wills
Chairman
I am absolutely delighted to have been asked to become a Patron of the Wells Cathedral Chorister Trust. Many years ago, I was a cathedral chorister at Norwich and choral music and Cathedral worship have been part of my life from a very early age. Having moved to Wells from London a couple of years ago I am now so privileged to live in The Rib - a fabulous mediaeval canonical house with the Chapter House in our front garden and The Lady Chapel in the back garden. I am so spoilt as I can sit in our back garden and hear the choir singing in the cathedral - sounding even better if I pop next door!
Cathedral Choirs cost money and the WCCT exists to raise funds to help those ever-increasing financial demands. If the pandemic and the closure of our cathedrals has taught us anything, it is that without our fabulous choir Wells Cathedral is not whole. Having the choir back will be one of the most exciting things to have happened in years. I am thrilled to be associated, in a very small way, with this incredible organisation.
Personally, I have never forgotten the amazing start in life I was given by being accepted into a cathedral choir. It was pure luck that I had a voice worth listening to, but it was much more than luck that I had a place at Norwich Cathedral. It was the commitment and generosity of the Dean and Chapter and the many supporters of the choir that made my childhood so rich and happy.
David Morgan-Hewitt
Patron
We are thrilled to hear that the Cathedral Choir is to return and sing in Wells Cathedral this term. The first sung service of the new academic year is to be on Saturday 5 September when there will be a special Choral Evensong held in the nave, with celebrations for members of the Music Foundation. All are warmly invited to come. This promises to be a very special and important moment. Please do come to support our Choristers and all members of the Music Foundation.
Social distancing arrangements are fully in place at the Cathedral, and those attending are asked to wear a face mask, unless they have good reason not to.
There will be a retiring collection to support the Cathedral’s Bounce Back Appeal, in support of the Cathedral’s music.
Please note that those planning to attend are asked to email office@wellscathedral.uk.net by midday on Tuesday 2nd September, so that the Cathedral can prepare well for this special occasion.
Up and down the country over 250 choristers have been singing for the survival of music in cathedrals, including 20 choristers from Wells Cathedral.
Inspired by the Cathedral Choirs’ Emergency Fund appeal, which seeks to raise £1M, choristers from all over the country have joined together with Aled Jones, Elizabeth Watts and the current BBC Young Choristers of the Year to record a lockdown video rendition of the beautiful song ‘Sing Forever’ by Robert Prizeman.
Wells Cathedral Chorister Trust would like to congratulate all of its choristers that got involved with this wonderful project for their beautiful singing which is sorely missed in the Cathedral at this time.
You can watch the video below, introduced by Alexander Armstrong.
We are delighted to be able to share another Wells Cathedral Virtual Choir video. To celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the Choristers of Wells Cathedral sing Peter Hurford's beautiful 'Litany to the Holy Spirit', with words by Robert Herrick. Each of the 31 young singers recorded their parts in isolation at home and their voices were combined with a pre-recorded organ part played by Jeremy Cole, the Director of Music of Wells Cathedral. Thanks also to Barnaby Martin for again working his technical magic to enable our Choristers to sing together in this way!
The Choristers walk daily to and from the Cathedral via the beautiful Vicars’ Close
We’re delighted to hear the exciting news that Woody Collins, budding composer and former Wells Chorister, has had his song Vicars Close shortlisted for the Song Academy Young Songwriter of the Year competition.
The Young Songwriter Competition is the leading international songwriting competition for 8-18 year olds and provides a wonderful opportunity for aspiring young songwriters to get their music heard by some of the best songwriters and producers in the music industry.
Inspired by the view of Wells Cathedral towering above Vicars Close, Woody has combined singing and computer-generated bells to create his work. He has also integrated a choral piece by local composer, Stuart Beer into his music. Stuart has written many works for Wells Cathedral Choir, some of which Woody sang in his chorister days.
We wish Woody the very best of luck!
