Diocesan Choir Singing Workshop

The Diocesan Choir workshop is held twice a year in Cathedral Hall and is an opportunity 
for singers from across the Diocese to learn new music in preparation for Diocesan events alongside the Cathedral Choral Scholars. New members are always welcome and one such member, Irene Smura, reflects on her first experience with the choir:

As a child I attended Mass at St Barnabas Cathedral until the family moved to another parish. I love singing but never had the opportunity to sing in a Church choir. At the beginning of 2018, I decided to join the Diocesan Choir and contacted Alex Patterson who was happy for me to join.

I attended the Workshop day (Saturday 24 February) for the Chrism Mass and enjoyed meeting others from other churches who welcomed me as a newcomer to the choir. The music we sang was a real pleasure to learn and sing especially Ave Verum Corpus by Edward Elgar and also learning to sing plainsong. I came away from the Workshop feeling uplifted.

I have never attended a Chrism Mass before but it was an awesome experience. I was guided in my singing by the other choir members and I thought it went exceptionally well in that I was emotionally and spiritually moved. I feel privileged to have been able to sing as a member of the choir and it has helped my vocal development and appreciation of Church music.