Picture by Graham Hillman
On the 9th February the Cathedral Girls’ Choir and their Director, Art Wangcharoensab, travelled to Cambridge to visit the church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs and to sing a joint evensong with the Pembroke College Girls’ Choir.
Art says: “We started the day by having a walk around the city and had a guided tour around the grounds of Pembroke College and the chapel, kindly led by Sophie Pether, who is a student at Pembroke College and a member of the Pembroke College Chapel Choir. We also saw many of the famous colleges in Cambridge including King’s College, Trinity College and St John’s College. Once we finished our tour we headed to the Catholic Church of ‘Our Lady and the English Martyrs’ where we sang inside the building and had a look around this beautiful church.”
Afterwards the two girls’ choirs rehearsed, directed by both Anna Lapwood, the Director of the Girls’ Choir at Pembroke, and Art Wangcharoensab, the Director of the Brentwood Girls’ Choir. “It was wonderful to see the girls sing together in such a beautiful building,” says Art. The pieces included Archer’s ‘Berkshire Service’ and James Devor’s ‘I heard the voice of Jesus’ which was commissioned particularly for this occasion by Art Wangcharoensab as Director of the Cathedral Girls’ Choir. James is assistant organist at Brentwood Cathedral and Head of Music at the Campion School, Hornchurch.
Says Art: “Once the service started we were treated to an incredible service with a chapel filled with people! I was very proud of all the choir members. They all sounded amazing! The choir is relatively new but has grown in numbers since the summer to a membership of 25. Many thanks to everyone who made this hugely successful event possible.”
The Choir is already looking forward to a return trip after an invitation by Nigel Kerry, the Director of Music of the Catholic Church in Cambridge, to sing at an evening Mass at the church of ‘Our Lady and the English Martyrs’ during the summer term.
