Early on Thursday 4th August, our Senior Choir assembled in Farnham ready to head west to beautiful Cornwall. This was the first real tour for the choir for three years, after our planned trip to the World Choir Games in 2020 had been COVID-cancelled. The tour bus stopped en route for the choir to sing a lunchtime concert in Exeter Cathedral, before continuing their journey to Falmouth. Singing in Exeter Cathedral was the first real experience of singing in a large venue for those of our singers who joined the choir after 2019, and it was certainly memorable for performers and audience alike.
The choir’s first Cornwall concert was on St Michael’s Mount on Friday. After some splashing about on the beach at Marazion, the singers climbed up the Mount to the chapel that crowns it. It was a very warm day and views from St Michael’s Mount were stunning. Somehow, all the stars aligned and the choir not only sang beautifully in the chapel, but their performance was live-streamed across the world. Our first live-stream! Our audience stretched from Farnham to Florida.
Saturday began with shopping and a picnic lunch in Falmouth, followed by ice cream and a busking concert in aid of the local RNLI.
There was more beach time on Sunday, followed by a magical joint workshop and concert with Cornwall County Choirs. We are so grateful to Angela Renshaw and her team for assembling 30 or so of their singers and for teaching ‘Cornwall My Home’ to our singers. Mylor church was such a welcoming venue and we were delighted that it was packed to the rafters for the evening concert.
Monday was a marathon singing day, as the choir busked around the far west of Cornwall. They started at the Minack Theatre, moved on to Land’s End and finished the day at Sennen Cove. Many of our Monday audiences weren’t expecting to hear a choir while sightseeing, but we definitely made some new fans along the way.
Tuesday was going home day and we bid a fond farewell to Falmouth. Again, we broke our journey by stopping off on the way, this time at Lyme Regis, where the choir sang ‘Sea Shores’ to the newly unveiled statue of Mary Anning. ‘Sea Shores’ is part of the ‘Herstory’ song cycle that we commissioned this year from our composer in residence, Russell Hepplewhite and librettist, Helen Eastman.
Our whole tour was made possible by the kindness and welcoming generosity of our various hosts: Exeter Cathedral, St Michael’s Mount, Falmouth RNLI, Mylor Church and Kay Deeming, Angela Renshaw and Cornwall County Choirs, the Minack Theatre, Land’s End and The Beach Bar, Sennen Cove and we extend our thanks to each of them. It was great to meet you all and none of us will forget our trip to Cornwall in 2022.