Choir Chaplain celebrates 25 years ordained!

Mgr Philip Moger, Parish Priest of First Martyrs Church in Bradford, and Chaplain to the Bradford Youth Choir recently celebrated the 25th annivarsary of his ordination to the priesthood.

In addition to his pastoral duties, Mgr Moger is Chair of the Diocese of Leeds Liturgy Commission, and a great friend of the music department.


Ad Multos Annos Monsignor!


For a brief report and pictures, click here.

Popes' words on Choral Singing

Inspiring words from the Holy Father:

Pope: Choral Singing Educates for Peace

Calls It Training for LifeLORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy, JULY 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).-

Benedict XVI says that choral singing is an authentic education in life and peace, and an exercise in the "hearing of the heart."

The Pope said this Friday following a concert in his honor performed by Alpine choirs at the Castle of Mirabello, near where he is vacationing until July 27.

"Training in singing, in singing in choir, is not only an exercise of the external hearing and voice; it is also an education of interior hearing, the hearing of the heart, an exercise and a education in life and peace," the Holy Father said in his improvised remarks.

"Singing together in choir and with other choirs together, demands attention to the other, attention to the composer, attention to the conductor, attention to this totality that we call music and culture. And," he added, "in this way singing in choir is a training in life, a training in peace, a walking together."

Seven different choirs from Cadore participated in the concert, offered by Bishop Giuseppe Andrich of Belluno-Feltre.

Before the beginning of the concert, Bishop Andrich spoke of the dramatic stage of the First World War in which the Dolomites were also a theatre.

The Pope too spoke of those dramatic moments "when this mountain was a barrier, a terrible and bloody theatre of war."

"Let us thank the Lord because there is peace now in our Europe and let us do everything to make peace grow in us and in the world," he urged. "I am certain that precisely this beautiful music is a commitment to peace and a help to live in peace."

3 Choirs concert in Huddersfield TH

In May, the BYC Girls performed at a 3 choirs concert in the magnificent setting of Huddersfield Town Hall.

Compared by John Pryce Jones, the concert featured the prize winning Oldham Youth Choir under the baton of their esteemed director, Dr. Eileen Bentley. The largest single choir was the Yorkshire Youth Choir who hosted the concert.

The choirs each performed 20 minutes alone, before combining in items by John Rutter, Barry Russell and Sir Charles Hubert Parry's coronation anthem 'I was Glad' in which the choirs were joined on the organ by Benjamin Saunders.

Below are photo's from the occasion:

Turbulent history..

Well, the Summer vacation is a go slow time for news of what's happening musically in the Diocese of Leeds. That will all change come September with some big events coming up, including 2 programs for BBC Songs of Praise. More about that soon!

In the meanwhile, here is a link to a history of the music at Leeds Cathedral, which as you can see, was rather turbulent at times. Thankfully Bishop Konstant's foresight in appointing a full time Director of Music for the Cathedral laid the foundations for what has today become the largest Catholic singing program in the UK.

Enjoy!

New Job Posting

We are looking for a new Choral Director to join our expanding music department. Please do spread the word!

The Diocese of Leeds has an innovative approach to liturgical music centred around its young people. (You may have seen the article in the Tablet 2 weeks ago.) The music programme currently involves 4 childrens choirs at the cathedral and 20 in Bradford. We wish to develop this outreach work from the Cathedral to more schools in the Diocese, particuarly in the areas of Huddersfield and Keighley, and as a result a new full time position is available

This post is funded by Diocesan schools, in conjunction with the Department for Education and Skills.

Diocese of Leeds Seeks Choral Director

To deliver a singing curriculum to children in both primary and secondary schools throughout the Diocese, as part of a well established outreach program.

circa £20.0k plus full pension package

An application pack is available from:

Benjamin Saunders

Director of Music
Cathedral House
Great George Street
Leeds LS2 8BE

Tel. 0113 244 8634

Email: music@leedscathedral.org.uk
Website: www.leedscathedral.org.uk www.bradfordyouthchoir.org

Closing date: 19th June 2007

Busy Summer for Boys

The Bradford Boys' Choir have a busy month ahead with both liturgical and concert performances across West Yorkshire.

This Sunday, the feast of Pentecost, the Boys will sing Mass at St. Peter's Church, Bradford. Music will include a Mass setting by Joseph Haydn, Peter Hurford's 'Litany to the Holy Spirit' and 'Come let us all this Day' by J.S Bach.

Then, from the sacred to the profane, the boys will particapate in a performance of Carl Orff's masterpiece 'Carmina Burana'. This takes place on Saturday 16th June at Leeds Town Hall. The boys will join the the Leeds Philharmonic Chorus, Leeds Cathedral and Leeds Parish Church Boys' choirs accompanied by the Airedale Symphony Orchestra under the direction of John Anderson.

Finally, to conclude the end of the first year of Christopher Johns' Directorship, the boys will sing at the Solemn Mass at Leeds Cathedral on Sunday 24th June at 11am.

Roll of Honour

Following this years success at the Wharfedale Festival, the BYC 'Roll of Honour' has been updated. Take a look here

Thus far we have had our choirs win prizes at two local music festivals, in addition to Yorkshire Martyrs taking the coveted 'Yorkshire Schools Choir of the Year' title for 2007.

Next year will hopefully see us venturing to other music festivals in the area, particularly the Mrs Sunderland competition in Huddersfield, and the Harrogate competition.

Wharfadale Festival Successes!

This years Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts featured a record number of BYC schools: 10 in all! Between them, they competed in 6 classes singing 24 different pieces of music!!




All the BYC schools performed extremely well: for most, it was their first ever visit to a musical festival and they all thoroughly enjoyed the day.



Two trophy's will spend the next year in Bradford at St. Josephs Catholic College. The A P Farnum Trophy was awarded to St. Josephs for winning the School Choirs 13 and under class. In the same class, the recently formed St. Bedes Male Voice choir achieved a commendable 2nd place with their hearty rendition of 'You'll never walk alone.' St. Joseph's College Choir also claimed the The Elizabeth Ingle Memorial Trophy in the church music class, with a magical performance of Douglas Coombes 'Sing to the Lord of Heaven' (commissioned for last year's festival and premiered by Yorkshire Martyrs.)



Out of 8 choirs competing in the primary school class, 6 were led by BYC directors Christopher Johns and Christopher McElroy. All performed very well with many commendations: St. Walburgas picking up a creditable 2nd place to overall winners; Clayton CoE.

Joseph Update

Unfortunately the BBC Joseph Choir Search site is unable to cope with the 'phenomenal' number of visitors looking to vote, so they have closed it down until next Monday, 21st May. So Please be patient and cats your vote sometime next week..

As an update, St. Joseph's Bingley are currently 14th !!! (Which would put them in the top 20 that Andrew Lloyd Webber would judge.)

St. Walburgas are 199th.

The Telegraph and Argus on Tuesday published an article 'School choirs 'dream' of TV prime show slot!' about the four different Bradford schools that have all entered the competition.. Let's hope Bradford get a representative in the final 20!

Joseph Choir search

Unless you have a very active social life, you will probably have been watching BBC 1's 'Any dream will do' on a Saturday night. The idea behind the show is to find a 'Joseph' to star in the forthcoming West end run of 'Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.'

This program provides a very good role model for those of us working with children's singing, particularly for boys. It is good for boy's to see grown men singing, especially on such a prime time TV slot.

As part of the show, the program has organised a search for a primary school choir to sing on the final show, when the winning Joseph will be chosen. To enter a school has to record a 60 second selection from a medley of Joseph songs, and upload them on to the shows website. People are then invited to go on line a view the clips, and vote for the favorites!

Two of our BYC primary schools have entered - so please do go and vote for them! St. Josephs, Bingley can be found here, and St. Walburgas here.

Best of luck to both schools!

Schools Prom Pictures

In March, the BYC Girls performed at the City of Bradford Schools' Prom at St. Georges Hall - Bradford's premier venue for music and the arts.

Here are some more pictures of the choir taken on that evening:

Mozart Requiem

If you have seen the film 'Amadeus' then you will be familiar with the myths surrounding the composition and completion of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem (1971.)

Yesterday saw the first in what is hoped will be a series of collaborations between the Leeds University Symphony Orchestra and the Choirs of Leeds Cathedral. A packed Cathedral yesterday witnessed a passionate performance of the Mozart Requiem conducted by Diocese of Leeds Choral Director, Christopher Johns.

The soloists were all drawn from the Cathedral choir itself: Laura Lamph (Soprano) Eleanor Corcoran (Alto) Peter Davoren (Tenor) and Dominic Rose (Bass.) The Cathedral Adult choir was joined by the Cathedral Boys' Choir for this performance.

Pictures were taken during the final rehearsal (hence the relaxed dress sense!) as not to disturb the actual performance!

BYC Gala Concert 2007

A packed house at St. Bedes Grammar school last night enjoyed the singing over 150 children from Bradford Catholic Secondary and Primary schools. Despite the warm climate in the Great Hall, the children managed to keep their cool (pardon the pun!) and give outstanding performances all around!

Here are a few pictures of the concert: more will be posted over the next few days when I got my breath back!

Holy Family, Keighley

Chris Johns and St Walburgas Primary School Choir

Soloist Djesi Kabeya with St. Cuthert and the First Martyrs Primary School Choir

The St. Bedes MVC on their Debut performance!

St. Anthony's Primary School, Shipley

St. Josephs Catholic College Choir

Yorkshire Martyrs Catholic College Choir,

YORKSHIRE SCHOOLS CHOIR OF THE YEAR 2006-2007

St. George

St. Georges Day, Patron Saint of England was this year marked by a very special Mass in Leeds Cathedral. The principal celebrant was HE, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales.

The Cardinal was joined by all the Bishops' of England and Wales who are currently in Leeds for plenary session of the Bishops' Conference. The Mass was offered for the intentions of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who recently celebrated his 80th Birthday.

The universality of the Roman Catholic church was acknowledged in the introit sung by the choir: Duruflé's setting of 'Tu es Petrus' - You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. Following this, the choir, servers, concelebrating priests and bishops all processed into the Cathedral singing a 8 verses of the great Hymn 'For all the Saints.' The Mass was sung to Victoria's 'Missa O Quam Gloriosam,' with motets by Viadana and Colin Mawby. The service concluded with the rousing singing of the acclamations 'Christus Vincit!'

For a slideshow of pictures from the Mass, click here.

Celebrate Leeds 2007 Awards Dinner

The Bradford Girls' Choir returned to Leeds Town Hall last night to perform at the Celebrate Leeds 2007 Awards Dinner.

Over the last month, the girls have been working hard on learning sign language! At the request of the organisers, the choir sang 'What a wonderful world' in both song and sign language, led by

Terry Harton, Janet Scarfe and children from the Leeds Society for Deaf and Blind People.

The choirs performance was very well received, with the attendees praising the beautiful sound made by the choir.

3 Choirs concert

In May the Bradford Girls' Choir will join the Yorkshire Youth Choir and Oldham Youth Choir on the Stage of Huddersfield Town Hall for a concert in aid of the West Yorkshire Forget me not Trust.

Get your tickets now for what promises to be a very exciting evening of choral music sung by some of the North of England's finest young singers.

Cathedral Organs I: Phoenix

At the present time the temporary organ in Leeds Cathedral is an electronic model by Phoenix organs. The Cathedral pipe organ is presently in storage in Germany, and it is hoped that it will be renovated and restored in the near future.

The Phoenix organ was designed and built in 2005.

A full stop list and details on the layout on the organ can be found here

To hear the organ played by yours truly, click here (you can even listen to tracks from the Cathedral Choir's 2005 CD Lauda Sion)

As far as electronic organs go, this has to be one of the most realistic I have ever played.

Triduum III: Easter Vigil

For those choir members who had made sacrifices over Lent (chocolate and alcohol being among the top things being given up!) the end of Lent couldn't come quick enough. Well, it didn't exactly come as quickly as they might have hoped as the Easter Vigil lasted 2 1/2 hours! There is a lot to pack in: the lighting of the the fire, the singing of the Exsultet, the readings and psalms, the initiation rites - and that's all before we reach the preparation of the Gifts!

This liturgy also saw the debut of our new chamber organ, purchased for used in weekday services of Mass and Vespers which are sung each day during term time. The chamber organ was used both as a continuo instrument (Gabrieli's Jubilate Deo) and in alternum with the main organ (In Corea d'Axauro's Lauda Sion Salvatorem.) More on the organs in a future post.

Concluding the service a rather tired organist managed to find the energy to play Jehan Alain's Litanies: a work particularly well suited to the Easter Vigil.

Triduum II: Good Friday

Red is the colour of the Day. The service is broken into three parts - the Liturgy of the word (with the reading of the passion - we hope that next year this will be sung) the Veneration of the Cross and Holy Communion.

Musically, the service is a feast of unaccompanied singing. This year the reproaches where sung to a haunting setting in Greek by Hungarian composer Lajos Bárdos - a real find. The music of John Shepherd was featured (Salvator mundi, In manus tuus) alongside William Byrd's magnificent 'Infelix ego.'

Triduum I: Holy Thursday

After the packed celebration of the Chrism Mass on Wednesday evening, it all seems much more still and solemn on Thursday evening for the first of the liturgies of the Triduum. The Triduum ('three days') consists of the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. They are seen as one 'event' spread over the three days.

Many of the greatest musical treasures from the churches heritage were written for use in the liturgical services and offices of Holy Week. This is the first year we have celebrated the passion and Resurrection of Christ back in our newly restored and renovated Cathedral so it was a particularly memorable occasion.

The Mass on Holy Thursday is traditionally called the 'Mass of the Lord's Supper' - the night on which we particularly recall the Last Supper. The Mass also included the 'washing of feet- where the Bishop washed the feet of twelve members of the congregation as Jesus himself did.

The celebration began with the Latin introit 'Nos autem' (Let us glory in the cross) which set the scene for the the coming days. The setting of the ordinary was Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli (complete with bell ringing...) and motets included 'If ye Love me' and 'O Sacrum Convivium' by Tallis. The service drew to a close with the traditional procession of the Blessed Sacrament, during which the choir led the singing of Pange Lingua, before concluding the hymn with Victoria's setting of the Tantum Ergo.