The Director of Music, Peter Nardone,

writes…

Whilst we 21st century humans seem

to have an obsession with the subject,

communication is not always our

strongest point. I rarely send an email

or leave a telephone message

expecting a reply or return call, but

then perhaps I shouldn’t judge others

by my own standards! This is one of the reasons why I

hope that our music department at Worcester Cathedral

will be able to sustain the production of a termly

newsletter that will strive to be both interesting and

informative. In High Notes we aim to give prominence to

those things which we believe to be as important to you

as they are to us, and we will try to cover areas that might

otherwise be left unnoticed – what the journal The Week

calls ‘boring but important’. Here is the first of these

editions and I hope that within its pages those who follow

the work of the cathedral musicians will find a wellspring

of information about the life and work of the place, its

singers, organists, instrumentalists and instruments. It is

intended that High Notes will be available online as well as

in paper and ink format for those, like me, who enjoy

having something that can later be used to light a fire, swat

a fly or rest a gin & tonic on.

This is November, the season of remembrance, and in this

edition you will find information about what’s on in

November as well as through the coming seasons of

Advent, Christmas, Epiphany and Lent. It is not our

intention to cover every music-related event in the

cathedral but rather to focus on the particular output of

the cathedral music department. We also aim to produce

the publication just after half-term, in November, March

and May each year and my desire is that High Notes will

be complimentary to Cathedral News, which offers a

broader coverage of the cathedral’s work, worship,

mission and ministry.

Please do let me know, as the editor, if you have any

comments, suggestions or information that you feel may

be helpful in the production of future editions of High

Notes.

The Cathedral Choir with Old Choristers, July 2015

Lay Clerks – in brief

This term we welcome Wil Gee (bass) and Piers Kennedy

(bass) together with Daniel Antrobus (tenor). Wil has

filled the vacancy left by Edward (Woody) Seymour who

moved to Ripon to be Head of Music at the Grammar

School there. Piers has stepped up to the post left

following the death of Ian Bell last term, and Daniel has

come to fill a position which has been vacant for some

years now. The Lay Clerks are now up to strength and

are working on the possibility of combining with the

gentlemen from the choirs of Hereford and Gloucester

to arrange a concert of music to raise money for charity

– watch this space! Maintaining this special Three Choirs

Festival link, Jonathan Woodhouse (alto) and Piers have

just returned from a tour of Canada with Gloucester

cathedral Choir. In October we sang at the baptism

service for the son of our senior Lay Clerk, Stephen

Shellard. Despite a lunch party and presumably a glass or

two of fizz, Mr Shellard, true to form, was back in the

cathedral by 4pm the same day to sing Choral Evensong.

Those who have yet to enter the refurbished Song School

may be unaware that following the death of their

HIGH NOTES

Music News Autumn Term 2015

colleague, Ian Bell, the Lay Clerks named their robing

room after him. Ian’s generous legacy has endowed a day

of music at the cathedral, and a further £200 has been

gifted to enable the Director of Music to purchase a set

of music for the choir.

Piers Kennedy Daniel Antrobus

Wil Gee

Jonathan and Sarah Woodhouse at their wedding

The Bollen Library

Since the refurbishment of the Judge Song School earlier

in the year, work has begun on the ordering of the music

library. The legacy left to the cathedral following the death

of Connie Bollen, wife of Derek and life-long supporter

of the Voluntary Choir, has been recognised in the naming

of the library ‘The Bollen Library’. To oversee this task

we have appointed Choral Scholar, Jason Stanbridge-

Howard (pictured below) as Librarian. The massive task

includes the re-boxing and re-ordering of the Cathedral

Choir Library as well as bringing into the space the

libraries of the Voluntary Choir, the Chamber Choir and

the Worcester Festival Choral Society. Jason has already

undertaken a similar job in Portsmouth Cathedral over

the past two years and is well equipped for the task in

hand.

Boys’ Zone

On Wednesday 21 October the boys, with some of the

gentlemen from the Cathedral Choir, gave a short recital

at the Masonic Centre in Rainbow Hill for the Worcester

Lodge, by way of thanks to the Lodge for their ongoing

financial support of our choristers. George Walker, now

Head Chorister, wore the Masonic Medallion presented

by the Lodge for the evening. Following the concert the

boys had to leave and get back home to bed, but not

before entertaining those present with the highlight of the

evening, their singing of ‘Lift thine eyes’ from

Mendelssohn’s Elijah, for unaccompanied upper voices.

This was by special request of the choristers and brought

back memories for them of singing the piece in Leipzig

and Dresden earlier in the year. After the choristers

departed, the Canon Precentor, Revd. Dr Michael

Brierley led the assembled order of Freemasons, Lay

Clerks and guests, in grace, before all enjoyed a most

convivial meal together. The musicians of the cathedral

extend our warmest thanks to those at the Worcester

Lodge who so generously support the cathedral’s music

and, not for the first time, have entertained us lavishly.

In the next edition of High Notes there will be a feature

on the refurbishment of the Judge Song School, a project

funded by the Freemasons of Worcestershire and a

bequest from the estate of the late Derek J. Bullivant.

In the first Purely Bach concert, former Head Chorister

Benedict Madden sang Bach’s solo cantata, ‘Jauchzet Gott

in allen landen’ accompanied by the Musical and Amicable

Society and conducted by Dr Nardone. It was very

encouraging to see, in an audience which packed the

cathedral quire, most of Ben’s senior chorister colleagues

and their parents. The boys and men will be singing

concerts of cantatas and motets in Purely Bach II & III next

year.

New Head Choristers George Walker and

Nathan Williams, November 2015

New Choristers Oliver Perkins, Patrick Thomas,

Robert Foskett and David Marlow, September 2015

Benedict Madden

Girls’ Corner

At the start of September Martha Dunster and Isabelle

Palmer were made our new Head Choristers, and

Rebecca Winter was awarded the Friends of Cathedral

Music Medallion. We also welcomed three new

choristers into the choir – Louisa Kenny, Natasha

Heaysman and Samantha Maylor-Wrout.

New Head Choristers, Isabelle Palmer and Martha

Dunster, with Friends of Cathedral Music medallion

holder, Rebecca Winter

New Choristers Louisa Kenny, Lara Maylor-Wrout

and Natasha Heaysman

The girls spent the first part of the Autumn Term carefully

learning all the notes for the first Purely Bach concert.

Although initially a little daunted by the complexities of

Bach’s musical invention, they all quickly grew to love

spending time on the music each week, and were

delighted that the concert was such a huge success.

Preparations are under way for the celebrations in 2016

of the 10th anniversary of the Girl Choristers at

Worcester – more news in a future edition of High Notes!

Voluntary Choir (The Vollers)

The Voluntary Choir, now in its 141st year, continues to

provide training for a broad range of boys from all over

the county. The men similarly travel from all corners of

Worcestershire and beyond, and range from teenagers to

long-serving and experienced singers. The back row

provides a unique opportunity for choristers with broken

voices from both the Cathedral Choir and Voluntary

Choir to carry on singing alto, tenor, and bass. The boys

rehearse on Tuesdays and they are joined by the

gentlemen on Fridays. The choir normally sings the

6.30pm Sunday service, and they occasionally join the

Cathedral Choir for a special service or concert.

Choir tours are another chance to work together for a

more extended period, while having fun in an exciting new

place. Last year the choir had the opportunity to sing in

London and Windsor Castle, and next year we plan to

travel to Germany to sing with our twin cathedral in

Magdeburg. We also hold many social events including

barbecues and race nights.

The Vollers on the steps of St. George’s Chapel,

Windsor Castle, July 2015

The choir also made a new publicity video last year which

gives a glimpse into the life of the choir. It can be found

on the cathedral website and YouTube. You can also keep

up with the choir on our Facebook page

www.facebook.com/worcestervollers

Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir

Eight years before girl choristers were admitted into the

Cathedral Choir, Stephen Shellard founded the Chamber

Choir in 1998, introducing female voices to singing regular

cathedral services at Worcester for the first time. The

choir quickly established itself as an integral part of

cathedral life, taking part in services, and the wider county

music scene through its concerts. Highly acclaimed CD

recordings have garnered praise from some of the

foremost classical music magazines and been played on

BBC Radio 3. David Mellor simply told his Classic FM

listeners about the choir’s Rise Heart CD: “If you want to

hear good choral singing, then listen to this!”

Fresh from its successful ‘Hope and Remembrance’

concert (Fauré’s Requiem and Bach’s Jesu Meine Freude)

and recent participation in the All Souls’ eucharist, the

choir is now turning its thoughts to its ‘Love Came Down

at Christmas’ performance in Cradley, on 13 December,

and singing in the Cathedral’s 21 December eucharist

service. You can keep up with the choir’s activities on

Facebook, Twitter (@WCCC2) and Google+.

Worcester Festival Choral Society (WFCS)

The Worcester Festival Choral Society, founded in 1861,

has a membership of approximately 150 members.

Through the year we perform three concerts, in the

glorious surroundings of the cathedral. Many people are

unaware that the society is independent, even if closely

linked to the musical life of the cathedral. The cathedral’s

Director of Music always directs the chorus, and generally

we rehearse as well as perform in the cathedral.

Generally we perform large choral works: in recent years

we have performed Verdi’s Requiem, and Bach’s Mass in B

minor. We also bring to the public less known works; one

particular success last year was Jonathan Dove’s There was

a Child.

Every year, in December, we perform Handel’s

masterpiece, Messiah. This wonderful work proves that

however well a singer might think they know a piece,

there are still many hurdles to cross!

We are now in the 21st century and have a

comprehensive website. Do look up

www.worcesterfestivalchoralsociety.org.uk to find out

more.

Friends of our music

It is our intention to bring to notice, in each edition,

particular friends of our music at the cathedral. This term

we wish to speak of the work of the Elmley Foundation.

In a special ceremony last year a newly struck medallion

was presented to Charles Pillman, named by Dr Nardone

as the Elmley Scholar for the year. It was decided that

each year the Organist would select a chorister that he

felt, for whatever reason, was particularly worthy of

receiving the medallion. As Charles is moving up through

the choir the time has come for another boy to be chosen

to wear the medal. It represents a generous annual

donation to the cathedral towards the funding of a

chorister, and places us in an enviable position amongst

cathedrals in receiving such an award. The Elmley

Foundation was endowed by the late Countess

Beauchamp of Madresfield Court near Malvern. She was

the Danish-born widow of the eighth and last Earl

Beauchamp who was known as Viscount Elmley until he

succeeded his father to the House of Lords in 1938.

Elmley and Mona, as they were known to all their friends,

lived happily at Madresfield for 45 years until he died in

1979, leaving her the majority of Madresfield’s contents.

She died 10 years later and in the intervening period gave

increasing thought to the best way of providing public

access to the house and its contents, and how its

traditions as a patron of the arts could be revived.

Celebrating twenty years this year, The Elmley

Foundation is one of the results. Its objects are to

encourage all forms of arts, crafts and design in the

counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, upon

which the occupants of Madresfield have had a large

influence over many generations.

John de la Cour, Director of the Elmley Foundation -

grandson of the late Countess Beauchamp, he was Lord

Beauchamp’s godson, and has been closely involved

with Madresfield since moving from Denmark to

England in 1958.

The Elmley Medallion

Whatever happened to Sebastian?

On a freezing cold day in January 2015 a seventeen year-

old tenor from Medellín in Colombia arrived at 5A

College Yard, together with his chaperone from the

charity ‘Let the Children Live’. After thawing out, the

young Sebastian Palacio, went straight to bed for five

hours following his gruelling flight from Colombia via

Florida, and wondering whether his luggage would catch

up with him after being lost in the system. Over the next

six months he became quite a figure in and around the

cathedral, singing with the Voluntary Choir and the

WFCS, the Birmingham City Choir, and helping sixth-

form students at King’s with conversational Spanish. He

also spent much time travelling the country to help raise

funds for the charity that had sustained him and his choir

in Medellín. On 6th July his visa expired and he returned

to Colombia where he is now studying music at the

university. During his stay with us he started learning the

piano with local musician, Robin Walker, and even passed

Grade 3 from a standing start. He also sang with various

choirs at King’s School, where he was fed each day at

lunchtime in return for what he was able to offer the

school. Many individuals and charitable organisations

were responsible for funding his time in Worcester, not

least Sing UK, The Bransford Trust, the Harrison Clark

Rickerbys’ Charitable Trust, Let the Children Live, and the

many individuals who supported through the ‘Tenner for

a Tenor’ scheme in the cathedral and WFCS. We hope

that this six-month stay in our community, living with the

choral scholars and making music in a foreign country, has

given Sebastian an experience that will remain with him

for the rest of his life.

Sebastian at the end-of-year Choir barbecue in July

2015, in conversation with Dr Peter Nardone, Canon

Alvyn Pettersen and Fr Peter Walters of the charity Let

the Children Live

Organ Scholarship 2015-2016

In early 2014 I was contacted by some old friends in

Dorset, Margaret & Raymond James. They had, for a

number of years supported the organ scholarship at

Chelmsford cathedral and, keen to see a scholarship at

Worcester, sent a cheque for £1000 to encourage us to

reinstate the position here. Unable to look a gift-horse in

the mouth, we managed to find further funds to add to

their generous donation and now we can offer a modest

scholarship and housing for a keen youngster. The first

recipient, 2014-2015, was William Parkinson who has

moved on to study at Birmingham Conservatoire. This

year we have been fortunate in attracting Richard Cook,

whose aim it is to pass both RCO examinations during his

time with us this year. This is no small task and we wish

him good luck in his endeavours. In the next edition of

High Notes there will be more information on the work

and history of the Michael James Trust.

Richard Cook, Organ Scholar 2015-2016

Wayne Marshall and the Organ’s 7th Birthday

When the new cathedral organ was completed in 2008

we began the tradition of inviting an international

celebrity performer to give the anniversary recital each

year. This October we had the pleasure of the company

of Wayne Marshall, who not only entertained us with his

dazzlingly virtuosic playing on the Saturday night, but also

played for all three Sunday services on our Harvest

Festival too. This included improvising a voluntary at the

end of the County Harvest service while a vintage tractor

was driven down the Nave (by former chorister-parent

Geoff Sansome).

Dr Peter Nardone and Wayne Marshall

What’s Coming Up

The biggest excitement on the horizon is the invitation by

HRH Prince Charles to singers from the Three Choirs

Festival, in this its 300th anniversary year, to sing an early

evening concert at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday 24

November. Girls, boys and men will leave Worcester by

coach early in the morning clutching their invitations and

their security papers. Upon arrival at the palace at 2pm

they will join with coaches from Gloucester and Hereford

before a rehearsal and concert in the Ball Room before

the Prince and an audience of 400 invited guests.

14 November 19:30

Elgar The Music Makers, Stanford The Revenge

WFCS at the Cathedral

21 November 17:30

Diocesan Choirs’ Festival Evensong at the

Cathedral

29 November 18:30

Candlelit Advent Service

Cathedral and Voluntary Choirs at the Cathedral

12 December 19:30

Handel’s Messiah

WFCS at the Cathedral

13 December 19:30

Love Came down at Christmas Christmas Concert

Chamber Choir at Cradley Church

19 December 19:30

Love is Born Christmas Concert

Cathedral Choirs and WFCS at the Cathedral

21 December 19:30

Worcester News Carol Service

Cathedral Choir at the Cathedral

22 & 23 December 18:30

Service of Nine Lessons and Carols

Cathedral Choir at the Cathedral

Regular Choral Services in term-time

Sundays

Eucharist 10:30 (Cathedral Choir)

Evensong 16:00 (Cathedral Choir)

Evensong 18:30 (Voluntary Choir)

Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays

Evensong 17:30 (Cathedral Choir)

Please always check the published Music Scheme to

check service times and details.

Christmas Shopping Ideas

CDs

The Cathedral Choir, Voluntary Choir and

Chamber Choir all have CDs available from the

Cathedral Shop.

Voluntary Choir Puddings

Pick up an order form at the Welcome Desk in the

Cathedral to order your delicious fund-raising

puddings!

Christmas Fayre Stalls

Support our choirs by visiting the Christmas Fayre

in College Hall and the Cloisters on Saturday 28

November.

www.facebook.com/worcestercathedralchoir

www.facebook.com/worcestervollers

www.facebook.com/worcathconcerts

www.facebook.com/Worcscathchamchoir

www.facebook.com/Worcester-Festival-Choral-Society-

155782827819860

www.worcestercathedral.co.uk/Music.php

www.worcesterfestivalchoralsociety.org.uk

worcestercathedralchamberchoir.co.uk

Contact the editor

Peter Nardone, Worcester Cathedral Chapter Office,

8 College Yard, Worcester WR1 2LA

peternardone@worcestercathedral.org.uk