We are happy to be invited back to sing at the Cathedral today.
VCC lost many choir members due to COVD - mainly my senior singers. We are still in the process of building back numbers. More than half our choir are now in grades 1 to 3.
Today I have included 8 of our new choristers, even though they have only attended two rehearsals. It’s important to involve them (even though they don’t have their new uniforms yet) and even if they cannot sing every song. Learning to perform in public is performing! A special thanks goes to a few of our VCC Alumni, who came to sing with us today!
Earlier this year, Neil and | were discussing when VCC might sing on a Sunday morning at CCC. I noticed that St Francis of Assisi day was actually on a Sunday this year, October 4th. Looking further I found that this year was also the 800th anniversary of St Francis, 1226-2026. VCC is a community choir, not a church choir, but festivals like this are good teaching opportunities for young voices, e.g. what made Francis so famous - he loved and embraced Creation - even naming the Sun ‘brother’ and Moon ‘sister,’ Earth as ‘mother’ - very much like our First Nations peoples; also what about the music of his time and what did it sound like? For Francis, we sing a Gregorian Chant Kyrie from Missa de Angelis.
In keeping with honouring St Francis we include here part of VCC’s history. In 2018 we went on tour to Italy, including a visit to Assisi, where we were booked to sing mass at the Basilica there. Come Sunday morning when it was time for us to warm up, we assumed we would be singing in one of the lower level chapels, where most guest choirs sing. Instead, we were escorted up a very long set of stairs to the main part of the huge Basilica space and greeted by an American Franciscan, who was the celebrant that morning. We were worried about having to follow the mass in Italian, making sure we sang at the right times. However, he said as he greeted us that the mass would be in English that morning. It was a very exciting time for us as we lovingly prepared a Gregorian Mass setting for that morning. It sounded wonderful in that fantastic acoustic!! The clergy also presented a lovely certificate at the end of the liturgy with the congregation clapping enthusiastically.
Our postlude today - This is Our Home - was composed for Expo ’86. For us, it has a double meaning, as we give thanks for these 40 years being able to say that the Cathedral is Our Home.
Dr Rupert Lang