Charity Concert presented by Holy Nativity Church

The Choir has been invited to perform in a charity concert hosted by the Holy Nativity Church. This fundraising event will take place at the St. John's Cathedral, on Friday the 23rd February, 2013.

Hope to see you there. More details coming soon!

Caroling in Prison, 2012

On 22nd December, eight of us set off for Stanley Prison. Spare us the jokes re: "murdering high notes"; we were off to spread X'mas cheer to convicts in this maximum-security facility.

Armed with nothing but a carol book and my HK ID card, I was initially a little apprehensive. A few weeks ago, I'd had the confused idea that carols would mean a jolly spot of entertainment for men who'd been in prison for over two decades but, as we piled out of the van to be greeted (very warmly indeed) by Rev. Will Newman, I realised that my brain had very severely underestimated the issue.

Thirteen gates opened and closed behind us before we reached the first performance area, in Cellblock A. 

They sat, backs very straight, in their sombre brown uniform and sandals. Many of them had the gaunt, spiritual faces of ascetics. They had a quiet dignity about their bearing. A few looked tired, defeated even.

Yet the opening strains of O Come, All Ye Faithful and Silent Night (especially Silent Night) were met with enthusiasm; some swayed to the beat and yet others mouthed the words. Once in Royal David's City got a colder reception, being a more obscure piece, yet the haunting beauty of In the Bleak Mid-winter was enough to reach the audience.

It would be asinine to talk about the acoustics in a prison mess-hall. You could hear the song of sparrows here and there. Red plastic covered the unused electric fans, a detail that struck me as at once bizarrely festive and not a little sad.

There was an intermission, in which everyone got to mingle and chat . Being a social moron and therefore mortally afraid of saying the wrong thing ("So...how'd a nice guy like you end up in a place like this?"), I was relieved to find that they often took the initiative to strike up a conversation. Most of them were able to recognize choir members from awhile back: Shirley, for instance, had been heavily pregnant on her last visit. She is now a mother of an eleven-year-old. 

The stories these men told were many and varied. One was adamant he'd been framed. Another's tale charted the progress of one who'd been at the top and now lay crushed under Fortune's wheel. Others simply avoided painful history and stuck to happier subjects, such as their plans for the future. Violence was no longer a solution, said one prisoner. Having gained a Masters in Theology in prison, he intends to pursue Ministry work. 

A modern-day Jean Valjean, I thought. 

Said I, "That's lovely." It was.

We had a couple more songs up our sleeves when intermission was over. "We wish you a merry Christmas," we sang. More dubiously, "We all want figgy pudding...we won't go until we get some." Scanning their lined, tranquil faces and seeing a sincere joy in their eyes, it was hard for me to imagine that any of them had done anything more serious than pull a cat's tail. But they had. Or perhaps they hadn't. 

A card created by the inhabitants of Cellblock A.

Another beautiful X'mas card by some inmates. You can't see it, but the snowflakes are raised.

And it occurred to me, then, that it didn't matter. It was X'mas Eve (or very nearly it). 

Perhaps the angels said it best, after all:
"Glory to the new-born King. 

Peace on earth and mercy mild.

God and sinners reconciled!"

Merry X'mas everyone.

-Jessica Ng

Collaboration this Sunday with Cambridge Choirs

The Sung Eucharist this coming Sunday 16 Dec will be sung jointly by the Cathedral Choir and Gonville and Caius College Choir, Cambridge.

Repertoire:

Communion Setting: Mass for Five Voices (Byrd) - sung by joint choir

Communion Anthems:

'Adam lay-y-bounden' (Howard Skempton) - sung by Gonville and Caius Choir

Alma redemptoris (Palestrina) - sung by joint choir

Conductors:Raymond Fu- Kyrie, Sanctus & Benedictus
Dr G Webber - Agnus dei and Alma redemptoris.

Guest conductor: DR GEOFFREY WEBBER 
Geoffrey Webber studied music at Oxford University where he was Organ Scholar at New College. After graduating with a First, he became Acting Organist at New College and Magdalen College, and later University Organist and Director of Music at the University Church. After completing his doctorate on German Baroque music he became Director of Music at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge and now divides his time between conducting, lecturing, teaching and research. He has recently established the first degree in choral conducting at the University of Cambridge which attracts students from all over the world.

What's been happening

Singing at special services is always a highlight of the choral year for us and in particular, in March, we were delighted to contribute to and participate in Bishop Andrew’s Consecration, which was a spectacular occasion and a wonderful experience for all concerned.

We also enthusiastically joined in the fund-raising concert for the Stanley Prison Ministry. Raymond Fu, our Choir Master, expertly conducted us singing from various vantage points in the Cathedral to a very supportive audience. The finale was a musical combination of The Open University Orchestra, the SJC Children’s Choir and ourselves singing a rendition of Rutter’s “The Lord Bless You and Keep You”. We were thrilled to learn that this concert had raised a significant sum for this worthwhile Ministry and anticipate a fund-raising concert becoming a regular feature of our calendar.

We always enjoy singing with the Children’s Choir and it is great to see (and hear!) how well they are progressing, under the baton of Shirley Fu. The numbers have grown quite considerably in recent months and we now have an Intermediate Choir and a Junior Choir (the latter being for the Under 6s) which is very ably coached and encouraged by Kallen Kwok.

We do believe in trying to expand our choral traditions and in April we were pleased to join choirs from the HK Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption and The Church of Christ in China, Hop Yat Church (a large Protestant denomination), to sing parts of Handel’s Messiah at a prayer gathering hosted by Donald Tsang, former Chief Executive of HKSAR.  The performance went well.  Mr Tsang thanked us and said the strength and support of the Lord and the Church had meant much to him during his years as Chief Executive and throughout his life.  Commemorative pictures were then presented to each of the three conductors.

Before the summer season approached, the Choir held its Annual General Meeting followed by a great social gathering held at The Helena May.  This is the time of year when our hard-working Committee members are selected and recognition is given to Choir members for best attendance over the year and also for long-service (over 20 years with the Choir).  We were delighted that Father David and his wife, Christine were able to join us, together with Cecilia Kwok (the Choir Master’s esteemed predecessor) and Bishop Andrew’s wife, Sarah, as they kindly presented the awards.

 

Above: Ruth, Cecilia Kwok and Fr. Hugh

Below: Rod and Raymond

 

The Recommissioning of the Choir, which happened at the beginning of September, is always a memorable occasion and gives another opportunity to join with the Children’s Choir and restate our commitment and wishes for the coming year. 

As always. we are happy to welcome new members into the Choir and if any readers would like to know more about how to join, please do contact Raymond Fu on ykf@spc.edu.hk Similarly, Shirley Fu (shirley@opera.org.hk) is always pleased to hear about youngsters who are keen to participate in the Children’s Choir activities.

 

-Debbie

Our Macau Concert Tour, 2011

VISIT BY ST JOHN’S CATHEDRAL CHOIR TO MACAU – SEPTEMBER 2011

BACKGROUND

The idea for the trip came from our Choir Master, Raymond Fu. He had previously led a small group from within the SJC Choir to Macau and sang at the Morrison Chapel and also at St Mark’s. But that was about 20 years ago and since that time, he had wanted to take the choir again. The choir is now of a high standard where it can sing a large repertoire of cathedral music and is also, in the view of many musical outsiders, the best traditional liturgical cathedral/church choir in the Far East. This suggested to us that we should take our music to others, and not just restrict it to St John's. So as a start to other possible Choir visits what better first location than Macau, where the Sheng Kung Hui churches are actively growing and where there is a rich historical background to early church music. Since 1997 there have been closer links with Macau, and indeed, every week there are joint clergy meetings so the opportunity was ripe to develop a closer choral tie.

The other reason for the trip, as Father Hugh (our Choir Chaplain) explained, was to meet the request of our sister churches in Macau who were keen for our Choir Master and choir to give a choral workshop for their own choristers. Specifically, they were keen for us to help them master the Provincially adopted setting of the Eucharist by Margaret Rizza.

PLANNING

Both logistically and musically, there was a lot of preparatory work to be done. Having decided that the weekend would include

• A Musical Offering at The Catholic Cathedral
• A Choral Workshop at St Mark’s
• Sung Eucharist at The Morrison’s Chapel and finally
• Joint Sung Eucharist at St Mark’s with the local choristers

there was great support from the SJC Choir. 26 singers and 14 additional family members ‘signed up’ and then the challenge was to construct the choral programme.

The ‘Musical Offering’ used Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli as the backbone of the concert. Raymond also chose to appeal to more European and classical tastes and one of Peter Yue’s organ voluntaries was by Domenico Zipoli, an Italian composer, who was a Jesuit missionary.

Whilst the musical content was being finalized, there was also a huge amount of logistical work going on the background, to ensure that all the arrangements for the group ran like clockwork. Arranging ferry tickets, accommodation, coach travel between venues, time for rehearsals, meal breaks, potential relaxation time (watching the Macau Fireworks Display or even meandering through some of the Casino Halls!) was no mean feat. We have members of the SJC Choir Committee (particularly Herbert Au Yeung and Wendy Nesbitt) to thank for that.

THE MUSICAL OFFERING AT THE CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL

Having welcomed everyone to the Cathedral, Father Hugh said a few words (with subsequent translation into Cantonese by Margaret Sang) explaining how appropriate it was that we were singing at such a special holy place. On the same site, over 400 years ago, the first Catholic church was built within the Chinese land mass, which is now the People’s Republic of China. He continued that, “As Anglicans, we have so much in common in our Christian faith with our brother and sister Catholics. This is especially so in our heritage of sacred music, which transcends denominations and continues to inspire people. In singing parts of the Palestrina Mass, we remember that he was a famous Catholic composer of his day and wrote the Missa Papae Marcelli about the same time as the founding of the first Cathedral here in 1576. It is almost certain that the Catholic missionaries of that time would have sung Palestrina’s music in Macau, Beijing and other Chinese Catholic outposts”. This could have included the famous Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci, who died in China 400 years ago.

The sounds resonating around the Cathedral were amazing - ”I loved the extraordinary moment when we were all stunned by the glorious acoustic in the Catholic Cathedral” exclaimed one Soprano. It particularly suited most of the music we were singing, though the 3-second echo around the building did present a bit of a challenge for the very fast-moving ‘Every Time I Feel The Spirit’ [Bob Chilcott]!



 



WORSHIP AT THE MORRISON’S CHAPEL

It was very special for a small group within the Choir to join Sung Eucharist at The Morrison’s Chapel, particularly momentous as it was the first time we had sung at a service in Macau. The Chapel is a special holy and historic place, as there has been a church on the site since the early 1800s and, thus, a very early beacon of protestant faith in this vast country. Not only that, but it is believed to have been the first Anglican church in the world to have a woman priest – Florence Li Tim Oi, in 1944.

Father Hugh gave a poignant sermon and reflected on Robert Morrison himself. “He was a man who said yes to God, coming to Macau to live, but suffered in very difficult conditions with family tragedies. He only managed one trip home in 27 years, faced many hostile situations and illnesses. Yet he pursued his goal for God and before he died at the age of 54 had completed translating the Bible into Chinese”. Father Hugh went on to say how much he loved Morrison’s modesty and his trust in God, illustrated in that well know exchange when someone asked Morrison, “Will you have any spiritual impact on the Chinese?” His reply, “No sir, but I expect God will.”

The Chapel was packed to the rafters and we sung with a most appreciative congregation. But with a very tight schedule to keep to, we couldn’t linger after the service, so there was a quick sprint through the old cobbled back streets of Macau, with Choir robes flowing, to reach St Marks in time for our final musical collaboration.

THE WORKSHOP AND SUNG EUCHARIST WITH RIZZA AT ST MARKS

The previous evening, at Reverend Odette Pun’s invitation, we had joined together with a dozen or so choristers from the Macau Diocese and under our Choir Master’s expert tuition, practiced singing the Rizza setting for the Eucharist. Whilst for some this may have been quite challenging, it was certainly demanding for others in the SJC Choir, as we were singing in Cantonese! It was a thoroughly enjoyable session and a great opportunity to introduce ourselves to the local choir, who were particularly enthusiastic and welcoming.

So at the Sung Eucharist, the choir mingled and sat together in parts, putting into practice what we had rehearsed together the previous day. It was a very uplifting and inspiring occasion, with the added benefit of a very full congregation. Feedback from the choir included one member who said “I treasured the morning Eucharist at St Marks when we mixed ourselves among their Choir to sing the Margaret Rizza setting. It brought a unique and special integration, even warmth, to be able to share this with them!”

AT THE END OF THE DAY…..

After the Sung Eucharist, and to round off our weekend, we were all happy to spend an hour or two relaxing over lunch at a Chinese restaurant with our families and new-found friends of the Macau clergy, before travelling back to Hong Kong.



All of the Choir who attended were thrilled to be part of the Tour. As Ruth Phillipson said to m“What a joy it was to sing music written when Macau was in its early Portuguese days. And what a contrast to seeing people at 7.15am in The Venetian still at the gaming tables, as we snatched a quick breakfast at Starbucks before setting off for The Morrison Chapel. The other benefit of the weekend was an extended time of us being all together and sharing a weekend that we will all remember with great affection!”

Of the many comments about the weekend, it was of particular note that our Choir Master was extremely pleased with our performances, making the visit very worthwhile. “There was great support from a large number of the choir, the quality of the singing was very high and it was not an easy schedule for us. The Dean, as always, was extremely supportive of the programme, as were the local clergy. My thanks go to everyone who helped contribute to such a successful tour”.

The Morrison Chapel

SO WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE CHOIR?

Well, St John’s Cathedral has a very close relationship with The Holy Trinity Church in Shanghai and there are currently some discussions about the Choir possibly visiting there in 2012, so that would certainly be a very exciting opportunity.

In the meantime, we are getting used to singing in the traditional collegiate layout of cantoris and decani style on the north and south sides of the chancel (as written about in the last edition of St John’s Review). We have been taking (informal) recordings of ourselves to learn how we can enhance our sound, as we are keen to undertake some more professional recordings over the next year or so.

The Choir Master is always keen to attract new talent into the Choir so if any reader would be interested in finding out more about how to join, please do email him on ykf@spc.edu.hk

Now that we are in Advent, and Christmas is just around the corner, we are all looking forward to the many delightful offerings of seasonal music that we will be presenting. Of course there will be the favourite Christmas carols (and plenty of Rutter and Willcocks arrangements!), but do also listen out for more Palestrina, Handel and Britten amongst other composers. And the wonder of the Midnight Mass (to be broadcast on RTHK) will surely be enhanced by not only the full Choir, but a full Orchestra and 4 local soloists – one of the musical highlights of the year.

DVM

4 December 2011

 

 

Welcome

Welcome to the blog of the St. John's Cathedral Choir (Hong Kong)! Here you'll find information on the choir: schedules, repertoire, audition and event dates, as well as posts from our own members. 

If you are part of the choir please do not hesitate to submit material!

The St. John's Cathedral Choir, led by conductor Raymond Fu