Last week, ten excited choristers of HM Chapel Royal gathered at Heathrow Airport, bound for New York. The choir’s first trip to the US had been delayed due to the pandemic, but our collaboration with the Choir School of St Thomas, Fifth Avenue was finally about to happen.
No trip to NYC would be compelte without a bit of sightseeing, so amongst rehearsals, the pupils spent time at Ground Zero, Liberty Island, Ellis Island and Times Sqaure, Rockefeller Centre, Central Park and a boat trip on the Hudson River. An evening spent at MoMa followed by Evensong saw the choristers sing Bairstow’s canticles in D, Philip Moore’s Preces and Responses and his anthem ‘What are you, my God’, conducted by the composer himself.
The pupils finished their sightseeing with spectacular views from the Summit and crossing Brooklyn Bridge, finishing with a splendid (if greasy) slice of Brooklyn pizza!
Sunday was a day packed with singing. The morning communion service included William Walton’s Mass and Martin How’s setting of Psalm 23. In the evening, they sang a piece composed by one of the St. Thomas choirboys, ‘I rejoiced ontinued from front page…when I heard them say’, as well as Howells’ canticles from the ‘Collegium Regale’ and the iconic ‘Zadok the Priest’ by Handel.
We would, of course, like to thank the staff on both sides of the Atlantic – at St Thomas’ and at CLS – who made this wonderful trip possible.
You can watch the performances on the Saint Thomas Church 5th Avenue YouTube by clicking here.
