The MP & Mayors and representatives from the local press, local schools, hotels, B&Bs, residents’ associations, universities, historical preservation societies, other religious denominations, chambers of commerce, the local tourist offices, doctor's surgeries and the county councils came to participate in Evensong, many for the first time. After the services, the congregations moved from the Chapels into the beautiful Long Gallery of the President's Lodge of Queens' College, and the spectacular Painted Hall of the Old Royal Naval College, for a drinks reception.
Queens' College Chapel Choir and the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir and their organists performed brilliantly, led by Ralph Allwood. In Greenwich, the lusty singing of the final hymn "Love Divine, all loves excelling" by the almost 200-strong congregation was wonderful to hear. People seemed to be having a good time at the drinks receptions too- so much so it made me wonder whether Evensong is particularly good at uplifting the mood prior to a social gathering.
The aim of this scheme is to inspire those who witness Choral Evensong to tell their networks about it, and by doing so seed awareness of this incredible tradition into local communities. The Queens' event, at which 75 were present, also tied in with the uploading of a page promoting Evensong on the Visit Cambridge tourist website. The Greenwich event received local press that was responsible for an extra 50 people attending the Evensong, making a total of 185. The President of Queens', the Chief Executive of the Greenwich Foundation and Director of Trinity Laban have said that they want to repeat the event annually.
We hope to help organise more of these Evensong Receptions around the country. If your church, chapel or cathedral are interested in doing something similar, please do get in touch via our "Contact" page.
Testimonials & Quotes
The Duty Manager of the Varsity Hotel in Cambridge, said, "Thanks very much for the invitation, it has been a special night for me- beautiful music, a sublime atmosphere and lovely people to talk to. We will surely promote the events as I believe it is of a great interest to many of our guests, we only need to tell them about it."
The Head of Communications for the "Cambridge Past Present & Future" civic society, said "Thank you so much for inviting us, it was a truly memorable and inspiring service. Evensong falls into the category of something that, if you work or live in or near Cambridge, you repeatedly promise yourself to do and repeatedly fail to achieve! So thank you so much for providing the ‘nudge’ in such an engaging way!...I will definitely attend on other occasions now."
The Headmaster of Blackheath High School, near Greenwich, said, "On behalf of my Director of Music, Deputy Head and I, can I thank you for a wonderful evening last night? We really enjoyed it; such beautiful music and a lovely reception. We really appreciated the invite and will spread the word about Evensong."
The agnostic Astronomer Royal and former President of the Royal Society, Lord Rees, one of those invited to Greenwich, says "Attending Evensong makes me specially mindful of 'the spacious firmament on high' – its wonder and its mystery.”
John Rutter, composer and conductor, who was invited to the Cambridge event, says “Choral Evensong is my favourite way of spending an hour, with glorious music in a glorious building."
To organise an evensong reception for your church choir, click here
