Christ Church Cathedral Choir performs Evensong for Candlemas to celebrate 135th birthday, January 28
Concert marks a major feast day with choral works by Holst, Lang, and more
Christ Church Cathedral Choir. Photo by Martin Knowles
Christ Church Cathedral Choir presents Evensong for Candlemas on January 28 at 4 pm at Christ Church Cathedral
UNDER THE DIRECTION of Rupert Lang, the Christ Church Cathedral Choir is presenting an Evensong for Candlemas on January 28 in celebration of the Feast of the Presentation and to mark the cathedral’s 135th anniversary.
What’s described as “thrilling” choral music will be featured, including C.S. Lang’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for eight-part choir and Gustav Holst’s virtuosic nine-part setting of the Nunc Dimittis in the vaulted space. Evensong includes works by the cathedral’s former directors of music, Frederick Chubb and Patrick Wedd; a hymn with a text by Herbert O’Driscoll (former dean of the cathedral); and a psalm setting by Lang.
The event also features readings, prayers, and two hymns sung with the audience. It will conclude with the festive ringing of bells to honour the cathedral’s birthday. People are encouraged to bring their own bell to join in.
The program is a distinctly Anglican service of choral music, offering an hour of peaceful contemplation.
Christ Church Cathedral Choir has won first-place prizes in the CBC’s biennial Amateur Choral Competition in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2006. The choir also won a competition-wide award for the Best Performance of a Canadian Work in 2006. That same year, the choir toured Mexico, performing in San Miguel de Allende, Queretaro, and Guanajuato to widespread acclaim. Singing a varied repertoire, the choir has a primary function to celebrate Sunday services through hymns, psalms, motets, and choral and congregational mass settings and to sing the evening Compline service.
In 2021, Lang marked his 35th anniversary as organist and director of music of the Christ Church Cathedral. That same year, he received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity from the Vancouver School of Theology and was named an Honorary Fellow of Canada’s Summer Institute of Church Music in recognition of his lifetime dedication to church music. He also earned a Lambeth Award—the Thomas Cranmer Award for Worship in recognition of his outstanding lifetime contribution to church music.
More information is at Christ Church Cathedral.
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