This summer (July 11 – 14) sees the return of the Southern Cathedrals Festival to Winchester Cathedral for the first time since 2017. Uniquely among the various British choral Festivals, the Southern Cathedrals Festival has sacred music performed by the choirs of Winchester, Chichester and Salisbury at its very heart.
Under the direction of Dr Andrew Lumsden, the Festival programme offers a wide range of events from a screening of the 1925 silent film, ‘Phantom of the Opera’ in the Cathedral Quire, accompanied by organ improvisation by Jonathan Hope, now Assistant Director of Music at Gloucester Cathedral, and a former Organ Scholar at Winchester to a Come and Sing Faure Requiem, a fitting tribute to Gabriel Faure, in the 100th anniversary of his death. This will be directed by well known composer and former member of the King’s Singers, Bob Chilcott. Would you like to be one of the 90 singers taking part in the preparatory afternoon workshop and evening concert? If so, book yourself a ticket.
Underpinning the lighter hearted concerts, services of Mattins and Evensong and the Festival Eucharist on the morning of Saturday 13th, performed by the different combinations of the three choirs, provide the backbone to the Festival.
Gentle humour has always been a popular feature at the Winchester SCF and this year is no exception. The cathedral lay clerks and friends will be putting on three performances of a fringe production, ‘Psalm you win, psalm you lose’. Clearly an event not to be missed this year.
There will be concerts given by the Winchester Cathedral Junior Choir and the Winchester Cathedral Chamber Choir as well as a recital given by a former girl chorister and her brother. Katherine Dienes-Williams, former Organ Scholar at Winchester, and the first woman to be appointed as organist in an English Cathedral, Guildford, gives a talk intriguingly titled ‘Kiwis can fly’.
The final concert of the Festival for all three choirs and brass ensemble includes wonderfully joyful music by contemporary composers John Rutter, Philip Moore, Joy Williams and Kerensa Briggs as well as older favourites, Anton Bruckner and Edward Bairstow.
For further information, please visit www.southerncathedralsfestival.org.uk or www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk or call 01962 857275. Tickets for all events are available now from the Winchester Cathedral Box Office, in person or online.