A feast of festive music Our Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols took place at 4pm on Sunday 23 December. This service, in the format made famous by King’s College, Cambridge, retold the story of the Nativity in readings from Scripture and Carols old and new. Many favourite Christmas hymns also featured. The Midnight Eucharist on Christmas Eve was attended by a capacity congregation – both transepts were full in addition to the Nave – and the Sung Eucharist on Christmas morningwas also well-attended. Romsey Abbey, an imposing Norman edifice dating from the Tenth Century, is indeed an inspiring location in which to celebrate Christmas.More »

Five Choristers promoted We have been pleased to promote the following choristers to positions of leadership in the Choir: Head Choristers: Christopher Augier and Fergus Cooper Senior Choristers: Michael Constantinou, Nicholas McQuitty and Tom Smith. The short ceremony took place at the start of our most recent Choral Evensong, at which we also gave the first performance in the Abbey for many years of the dramatic Evening Service in D by Percy Whitlock, a Bournemouth-based composer most renowned for his organ works. The vacancies arose from the retirement of four senior choristers a few weeks ago who, between them, had put in some twenty-three yearsMore »

Learning and leading Edward Gower on his time with the Choir When I visited the Williams household back in the autumn of 1995, I had no idea what I was letting myself in for(!); a few notes and scales later and I was in the Abbey Choir. At first there wasnt a lot for me to contribute towards the singing: maybe a few notes from the hymns and parts from the Lords Prayer but as the time went on, the more I could sing and the more I contributed. Ironically, it was from Alistair Koller that I gained confidence and the will to become aMore »

Young leaders move on The Sunday following All Saints Day saw the departure of Stephen Brown, Sam Stollery, Edward Gower and David Barratt, four of our most senior choristers. They have collectively clocked up over twenty years, having joined us between Easter 1995 and September 1996 a formidable achievement, given all of the other demands on time and loyalty placed on young people these days. More impressive still is the maturity demonstrated by what they believe the choir has taught them. For Sam, it is the wide variety of music he has learned as well as the responsibility of being a Head Chorister. Stephen broadensMore »

Girls Choir update Contributed by Elizabeth Hammond The girls choir have been exceptionally busy in the first half of this term. The Harvest Festival was a huge success and we look forward to our next gig at the Sung Eucharist where we will be joining the men from the Abbey Choir for a show that cant be missed! Currently, the most exciting news is our first appearance on the new Abbey Choir CD and to be the Glory where the girls recorded Cantate Domino in conjunction with the main choir, a piece commissioned by Ian Schofield for the dedication of the Nave Organ. Unfortunately, weMore »

Reporting back to our Friends This years Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Romsey Abbey Choir (FORAC) took place on 15 October. Jeff Williams, in his report as Organist, recalled the Choral Evensong with the Choir of Sherborne Abbey, the Christmas Services, recording the CD and the Choir Holiday in Chester: possibly the most successful yet. Dick, as FORAC Chairman, focused on the social activities, mentioning the Skittles Evening, the Quiz Evening and of course, the Epiphany Supper. The Vicar chimed in with some very supportive comments. No members of the current committee were due to retire this year but, in view of theMore »

Punching above our weight A boxing metaphor is not the usual way to talk about a body that exists to serve God but, in one respect, it is quite apt. Our web site gives us an online presence at least as high as many of the major Cathedrals. Here is what one visitor wrote in an e-mail to us from San Diego, California: Thank you for creating such an informative web site. Brilliant! As much as I admire the cathedral musical foundations in the UK, of late, both my imagination and admiration have been fired by the parish church choir tradition of choirs of menMore »