In Tune with Heaven

Written by Victor Tolomeo, Vestryman and Choir Member

It’s good to be back! The St. George’s Choir and Choristers have returned from our weeklong residency at Gloucester Cathedral and are looking forward to rejoining all of you in worship this Sunday. With a packed schedule of sightseeing, rehearsals, and a total of seven sung cathedral services in the course of the week, it’s impossible to give a full account here of all our adventures – so I encourage you to check out Dr. Ben Keseley’s blog if you haven’t already. With that said, I would like to offer a few reflections.

Gloucester Cathedral describes itself as “In tune with heaven; in touch with daily life.” I’ve found myself returning again and again to this theme of connection over the past days.

Gloucester has a tradition of daily worship dating back some 1,300 years; it was a huge privilege and a very moving experience for us to be a small part of that. To sing in the Great Quire, to feel the stone of the Norman-era nave, to stand in awe of the fan-vaulted ceiling of the cloisters is to encounter, however tangentially and fleetingly, all the Christians who have preceded us in offering their own sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving in that space.

There is often a moment in choral singing when the harmonies “lock in” – disparate notes aligning and coming in tune to create something greater than the sum of the parts. Offering daily services improved our musical cohesion as a choir, yes, but the experience also deepened friendships and forged new bonds within our community. When I look back on our residency I’ll remember all the post-evensong meals, laughs, and (yes) pints shared more than our repertoire or any technical details of our performances.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you, the people of this parish, for your support of our choirs and music programs at St. George’s. It’s our privilege to sing with and for you each Sunday.

I’ll leave you with the Choristers’ Prayer which our choirs recite after each rehearsal:

Bless, O Lord, us thy servants, who minister in thy temple.

Grant that what we sing with our lips, we may believe in our hearts,

and what we believe in our hearts, we may show forth in our lives.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May we all grow evermore in tune with heaven and each other as we raise our voices in praise this Sunday, and every Sunday.

Cross-posted with DRAGON BYTES: 7/25/24

Beauty and Splendor

On Sunday we sang our last services in Gloucester. Sunday Eucharist is held in the Nave, as opposed to the Quire where we had sung Evensong all week. This provided us an opportunity to adjust to a different acoustic and formation. The choir, now pros at adapting to new things, sang beautifully. Our final Evensong was back in the quire stalls in the afternoon where we sang beautiful and familiar repertoire that we know very well. This provided us the opportunity to perhaps enjoy even more the space we have called home for the past week.

We were delighted to discover by chance that Gloucester’s Canon Precentor, the Rev. Craig Huxley-Jones, went to seminary with former Saint Georgian, Len Abrams. A small world indeed! We are very grateful for Craig’s hospitality and good care during our residency. We depart with a new friend and partner in ministry and hope to welcome Canon Craig to St. George’s someday.

As we travel back this day, my heart is full of gratitude for our choir and choristers. Not only for their tremendous work and all they have achieved, but also living into and sharing those values we hold dear as Saint Georgians. For all of you back home who have supported us with your prayers, good wishes, financial gifts. For our staff singers who provided me good musical counsel, and for Anna Wiley, our chaplain. And for my beloved wife, Meredith, who assumed all the duties and craziness of our household while I was away, while balancing a busy season at work.

We know that God is revealed in beauty and truth. And if we ever doubt God’s presence in our lives, we only need to remember the splendor and beauty of this magnificent, historic and holy place. The beauty and splendor of the music we are blessed to sing. The beauty and splendor of the community and fellowship we share together. And the beauty and splendor of this little thing called Bus Church!

Soli Del Gloria,

Ben Keseley

Our Organist - Thank You, Alfred!

Alfred Yoon, our organist, did a fantastic job navigating a temporary organ system, multiple cameras, a generous acoustic, and difficult repertoire. We are so grateful for his teamwork, expertise, and musicianship. Thank you, Alfred!

You can see in this picture several of the facade pipes are out of the organ case, as are all the interior pipes. The new organ will be completed in this historic case in 2026.

Photos from the week

A sword from really, really long time ago.

The cathedral courtyard.

The cloisters where Harry Potter scenes were filmed.

Rhapsody in Blue windows in a side chapel.

The Kiddywinks, Manuel, and our tour guide, Peter.

By the Turf Cafe in Oxford.

The Mayor and Microsoft

It has been a busy but great few days here in Gloucester with excursions, rehearsals, evensong and fellowship. The choir continues to sing very well and a good time is being had by all. We are grateful for the many, many blessings of this time together.

Friday we sang a special Evensong at the cathedral celebrating the 30th anniversary of the charity tic+, which helps teens in crisis. It was attended by many, including the cathedral trustees, service users, and other organization officials. The mayor came back to see us, too. She requested a photo with us for her office and again thanked us for singing at her installation. Several of us enjoyed chatting at length with her after the service.

We weren’t sure if we would have an organ for the service, or if Alfred, our organist, would be able to use the camera network to see Ben from high up in the organ loft. The cathedral pipe organ is out for a three year renovation, so the temporary electronic instrument runs on a windows based computer. Luckily, cathedral IT staff and Alfred’s ingenuity got us back up and running. However, we did just learn that our Sunday morning service will not be live streamed due to difficulties stemming from this same IT outage.

Tonight the choir sang another beautiful Evensong. After knocking the Magnificat out of the park, I sat down, looked up at the glorious fan vaulting of the ceiling of this majestic place, and couldn’t help but feel the love of God surrounding us all and uniting us in that love. It was one of those transformative moments one doesn’t forget quickly.

The great Winston Churchill once said, “we shape our buildings, and our buildings shape us.” There is no doubt that this cathedral church, and our experience of worship and music here - of God’s beauty - has left a mark on our hearts and in our souls that will remain with us throughout life and continually deepen our work of singing praises to God.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Ben Keseley

---

Album Cover

Photo of the Day

The Altos, as altos do, enlisted Steve Green for a professional album cover photo shoot. It took a spot of time. So we get Altos and Basses today.

The Altos: Dee and the Monotones

The Basses: Lost in wonder

Our Basses, did not hire a professional photographer, rather a sketch artist for one.

A picture is worth a thousand words…

18 July 2024

Like great music, a picture communicates so much more than words often do. As the choir has been immersed in the fine details of making music in this beautiful space, we have been tremendously blessed by the artistic eye of our resident photographer, Patrick McCabe. Patrick has captured the sheer joy - the wonder and awe - the emotion of our incredible week thus far. Enjoy these photographs our first days. Thank you, Patrick!

---

The Choristers play Laser Tag

Dr. Ben

(Don’t worry, he’s keeping his day job.)

---

Cover Album Photo of the Day

A few options

Album title: TBD

Submit your suggestion to our producer for a chance to veto a hymn for a year.

The Mayor of Gloucester

Tuesday, 17 July 2024

Tuesday was a day that I suspect for many of us in the choir will remain in our hearts and minds for a good long time. A day that is hard to put into words. We were privileged to sing for the installation of the Mayor of Gloucester, which was held in the context of Evensong. This occasion brought out much English pomp and circumstance, as well as mayors from many surrounding towns dressed in their ceremonial finery. The choir’s repertoire for the day, by chance, fit quite nicely into the occasion, featuring canticles by nearby resident Joanna Forbes LE’strange, and an anthem (They that go down to the sea) by former Gloucester organist, the great Herbert Sumsion. It was very special to sing Sumsion’s anthem in the place it was written. The choir sang beautifully and did a tremendous job. Our boy choristers even sang the opening lines of the Nunc Dimittis by themselves and did a great job. My heart is over-flowing with gratitude.

The Mayor of Gloucester is a warm and friendly lady who was very complimentary and appreciative that we could sing for her installation. I had the privilege of speaking with her at Tea after the service in which she thanked the choir profusely and wanted us to know that the music had transported her and that she would carry this gift with her for the rest of her life. Her words were a great reminder why music is important in our lives. For its ability to intercede and bring glimpses of God’s beauty to us - a beauty that will change our lives and change the world for the better.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Ben Keseley, Minister of Music

And, the Album Cover of the Day

The Choristers forthcoming album

“Crabby Road”

**They really aren’t crabby, though, but rather delightful. :)

Settling in our new “office”

Monday, 15 July 2024

Monday was all about settling into our home for the week, the magnificent and beautiful Gloucester cathedral, famed for its fan-vaulting. We rehearsed for over four hours, most of which was spent in the Cathedral’s Song School (pictured below). A tiny, but storied place for 38 people with no chairs! The choir is doing really detailed and amazing work. We were told by the cathedral verger about the history of great musicians who had rehearsed and worked in this very space. Our day of rehearsals was broken up by a wonderful tour of the cathedral. Its famed cloisters and their beautiful fan-vaulting was an important setting in many Harry Potter movies. This cathedral, like many, holds the stories of those throughout its history and today in its fascinating architecture and quirks. We enjoyed discovering some of these. Our day ended with our first Evensong. It was a great experience for us all to sing and worship in such a space. Because of the cathedral schedule, we had just 30 short minutes to get used to singing in the Quire and generous acoustic where the organist is perched high above the choir and we hear ourselves differently. During Evensong, Canon Craig Huxley-Jones, a wonderful priest and kind person, offered prayers for you, the people of Saint George’s and our ministries.

An American Connection

John Stafford Smith, composer of our National Anthem, was born in Gloucester. His father was organist here in the mid-1700s and John a chorister. John was one of the first serious collectors of Bach manuscripts. More importantly, his Annacreontic Song, the official song of the Annacreontic club became the tune for our national anthem. Above this plaque hangs a Union Jack and an American flag.

Photos from the day

The Nave viewed from the organ loft.

The Quire and High Altar viewed from the organ loft.

One of side of the cloisters

The July Music list.

Getting ready for rehearsal in the quire.

Lastly…

THE 4 TENORS

A sneak peak of their upcoming album cover

Day 1: Planes, trains, and automobiles

Sunday, 14 July 2024

Our first day began with a few minor travel headaches as we all gathered at Heathrow airport, but ended with a joyful dinner together and viewing of the football/soccer Euro final at the High Orchard Pub near our hotel in Gloucester. In between we toured Windsor Castle, explored the town of Windsor, and traversed the beautiful Cotswold countryside in our orange and blue motor-coach.

Tomorrow get settled into our “office” for the week with a tour of the cathedral, procession practice, and rehearsals for our first Evensong.

We thank you for your prayers of support and love that carries us as we bring a bit of Saint George’s to a different part of the world.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Ben Keseley, Minister of Music