Day 7 - Ely and Concert
We began our walk to breakfast 15 min earlier this morning because we wanted to try to squeeze in a special trip between rehearsals and concerts out to Ely to tour the Ely Cathedral. Upon arrival the magnitude of the cathedral blew everyone away. This building is the only building in the U.K. to have been included as one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages and you could for sure see why! Its most famous feature however is the central octagonal tower, with lantern above, which provides a spectacular internal space and, along with the West Tower, gives a unique exterior landmark that dominates the surrounding landscape. we wanted to make a special trip out to Ely to tour the Ely Cathedral. Upon arrival the magnitude of the cathedral blew everyone away! This building is the only building in the UK to have been included as one of Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages, and you could for sure see why! Its most famous feature however is the central octagonal tower, with lantern above, which provides a spectacular internal space and, along with the West Tower, gives a unique exterior landmark that dominates the surrounding landscape, something we were all going to be climbing!!
Once we got our tour groups sorted out, Marisa took her group on the first tower tour while the rest of the choir found the "Lady Chapel. This gothic style chapel connected to the main sanctuary was a very bright space with outstanding acoustics. There was about a 9 second ring once the kids stopped singing. The whole upper part of the building was surrounded by clear glass put together as if it were stained glass pieces. The kids of course had to try this room out! They sang Heliseb. Mia and Colin's solos just rang beautifully in the room. Be sure to look for the video once we figure out how to get it posted ;)
Following the performance, we were off on our tours of the octagon, spent some time in he cafe getting our free "squash" and maybe some other treats, and wondered through the stained glass museum. What a great place to visit!!! Well worth the drive!!
We ended our day in a very special way for the three choirs, us, Perse Upper School Concert Voices and St Catharine's College Girls' Choir sang the mass for evensong at St Johns church, one of the colleges of the University. We began the service singing "Lift Thine Eyes," and the other choirs sang the mass. It was very cool having once seen it done a few days ago at Kings College, and then seeing our kids sing it. Following the service, we had our final concert with the two choirs, where a majority of the concert from the previous night was repeated, however, our two numbers were different. We sang "Heliseb" and "Aalloilla." We ended the program with our two mass pieces, "The Ikon of St Hilda," and "Nagasaki." Beautifully performed.
The singers all seemed to enjoy the time spent together, learning and working together on the 4 pieces they beautifully performed. Looking forward to hopefully having them come visit us someday soon! Thank you Cambridge, for being such wonderful hosts and hostesses. You made us all feel very much at home, and took great care of us, creating memories to last a lifetime! I'm sure we'll be back!
Click through the slideshow below to view some highlights from today:
