St Mary's Calne
On Thursday evening, the Chamber Choir and newly-formed Alumnae Choir of St Mary's Calne performed in A Ceremony of Carols, a truly magical evening of festive music, readings and carols at St Mary Abbots Church in Kensington, London.
With the church filled with twinkling candles and Christmas decorations, guests enjoyed drinks and canapes before finding their seats to enjoy a very special concert featuring the Chamber Choir and the first public performance by the new Alumnae Choir. The event was raising money for Glass Door Charity – a London based homeless charity, offering shelter and support services, as well as The Calne Foundation Trust.
Our very talented Chamber Choir performed Benjamin Britten’s famous A Ceremony of Carols led by Miss Marie-Clare Arthur, Director of Music, and expertly accompanied by Mrs Jenny Broome on the harp. The congregation were spellbound by their incredible voices which filled the beautiful building and created the most enchanting experience. Readings were given by Dr Kirk, Iona (UVI) and Elowen (LVI) as well as Neil Parkinson, Co-Head of Case Work at Glass Door Charity. Jenny Broome performed a wonderful piece of music, Schedryk, an arrangement of Carol of the Bells.
The newly-formed Alumnae, made up of Calne girls from a variety of leaving years, came together to perform The Holly & The Ivy and greatly enjoyed the opportunity to be part of a St Mary’s concert, bringing back happy memories of their time at Calne. We hope to continue this tradition with opportunities to be involved with other important school events during the 150th celebrations next year and as a Christmas tradition in years to come.
Mother Emma Dinwiddy Smith, Vicar of St Mary Abbots, and our own School Chaplain, Father Jonathan Beach, led the service with an opening prayer and final blessing which, together with the music, left guests feeling uplifted and ready for the Christmas season to begin.
Isabella, an UV member of the Chamber Choir wrote: ‘On Thursday 1st December, Chamber Choir went to sing at St Mary’s Abbott Church in Kensington. It was a beautiful venue with wonderful acoustics. In the concert, we sang A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten and were accompanied by Mrs Broome on the harp. The Alumnae Choir sang Holly and the Ivy, which was beautiful, accompanied by Mr Joyce on the piano. To perform A Ceremony of Carols was an amazing experience, and we started the concert processing down the aisle with candles. This set the mood for the whole concert. Miss Arthur was a very good conductor and kept us smiling throughout the concert.‘
Thank you to all those who supported this event.