Tours and Concerts

On Friday 28 and Saturday 29 May, S Anselm's Chapel Choir travelled down to Hereford for a mini-tour.

We left school early on the Friday and travelled down to British Camp, just the other side of Malvern for a packed lunch with breathtaking views over the Malvern Hills.  These were the very views that inspired Sir Edward Elgar to write music such as the Pomp and Circumstance Marches.  As a reward for the walk up and down a rather steep hill, the children (and staff) were all treated to an ice-cream before returning to the coach for the final leg of the journey.

Once in Hereford, we had a short rehearsal in the Cathedral School before the children were let loose on the finest retail therapy that Hereford has to offer:  Primark, W.H. Smith and Thornton's seemed to benefit most from the experience.  With special offers in tow, the choir returned to the school to change into their uniform before a rehearsal in the cathedral choir stalls.  After refreshments, kindly provided by the cathedral staff, the choir processed in as Mr Marples played the marvellous Father Willis organ.  Choral Evensong has been sung at Hereford for many centuries, and the choir did a fine job of upholding the tradition.  To quote an email I received from the cathedral's precentor:

"It was particularly lovely to listen to them singing the service, as you had obviously spent a great deal of time practising the music with them, so that they were able to sing with confidence, and to enjoy the peerless Hereford acoustic. I was especially pleased with the thoughtful way in which they sang the psalms, which is never any easy skill to master, even for adult choirs."

After Evensong, and a long photoshoot in front of the High Altar, and one of Hereford's fine stained glass windows, the choir said their goodbyes to travelling parents, and made their way back to the coach.

We arrived at Dunfield House, near Kington, for our overnight stay.   After a brief fire drill, a campfire supper of hot dogs, burgers, chips, salad and choc ices was enjoyed by everyone.  The extra treat of toasted marshmallows and a play on the adventure playground was the icing on the cake of a thoroughly rewarding day.

As darkness fell, we made our way indoors and gradually upstairs to bed for a well-earned rest.

We awoke to a hearty breakfast of cereal, toast and bacon and eggs and had some free time to enjoy the swimming pool, table tennis and pool.  Unfortunately, due to overnight rain, there were no takers for Mr Marples' offer of a morning run, and the trampoline was declared out of bounds.  Everyone made good use of the facilities before the grand opening of the tuck shop.

We packed up the coach and made our way to Holy Trinity Church, on the north side of Hereford for a rehearsal.  The church houses Hereford's finest piano - a Steinway - and Mr Marples and Mrs Strudwick enjoyed the opportunity to play the piano duet part in William Mathias' "Learsongs".  We also sang the Magnificat from the previous day's evensong, and Howard Goodall's beautiful setting of "The Lord's My Shepherd", with Isobel singing the solo with the confidence and skill of a singer well beyond her years.   Four solo items were provided by S Anselm's pupils, with Isobel and Georgia both singing, Nancy playing Kreisler's famous Tempo di Minuetto on the violin, and a jazzy number from Annabel on the alto saxophone.

We joined forces with the Junior Singers from Hereford Cathedral School, who provided some solo items, including a piano solo from one of their sixth formers on the Steinway.

We finished the concert with a combined choir performance of Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo, including over 15 soloists from the two schools. The piece was accompanied on the piano by Andrew Semple, on the music staff at Hereford Cathedral School, and directed by Jon Weller.  It was the perfect end to the concert, and a lovely finale to the tour.

With most pupils picked up from Hereford, the remaining nine children and the four staff climbed onto the coach for the return journey.  Although exhausted, there was a real buzz and a sense of achievement as one by one the children listened to the recording of the concert with smiles on their faces.   After a brief supper stop at Trowell Services, we arrived back at school just before 7 p.m, unloaded the coach, and began the well-earned exeat weekend.

My thanks go to parents who came down to Herefordshire to show their support, to the staff who contributed so much to the trip: Mr Marples, Mrs Strudwick and Mrs Weller, and huge thanks go to the children for behaving, singing brilliantly and making me so, so proud.   Here's to the next one ...

Do enjoy a small selection of the photos, accompanied by 'The Lord is my Shepherd' by clicking below:

Hereford tour video