St Mary's School Calne

Chamber Choir in Paris

The Chamber Choir returned on Monday from their latest foreign tour – four days in Paris giving three performances in Notre Dame, L’Eglise Allemande and L’Eglise St Sevérin  

On Saturday the choir gave an evening concert at L’Eglise Allemande where there is a stunning acoustic and a strong musical tradition, and then on Sunday, the Headmistress, Dr Helen Wright, and numerous parents joined thousands of tourists and Parisians to hear the choir sing Mass at Notre-Dame. Beyond the pressures of singing for such a large congregation, the girls also gave the World Premiere of a mass setting written for them by David Bednall, with the composer himself accompanying the choir on the organ.

It was a particular privilege to give a first performance in this famous cathedral, as it was here that the 12th Century musicians Leonin and Perotin first experimented with music of more than one part – the very beginnings of Western Music as we know it! The applause that rang out from the congregation at the end of the Mass was testament to a job well done!

After a well-earned free afternoon and evening, the girls gave one further recital to another very large audience on Monday in L’Eglise St Sevérin, one of the most beautiful churches in Paris, before making their way back to Calne.

The standard of singing was very high to the delight of the St Mary’s staff and their supporters, and the girls are looking forward to their next foreign adventure – a week in America in October. Before that the choir will be concentrating its efforts on the BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year Competition Semi-Finals in May.

You may wish to visit the websites of composer David Bednall and harpist Jenny Broome