RGS Cathedral Tour

On 26th October, members of Polyphony and the RGS Godfrey Searle Choristers set off to sing Evensong in a couple of beautiful Cathedrals along the south coast. Their first stop was at Portsmouth where the Cathedral building is not quite what one might normally expect to find. Although there has been a church on this historic site for 900 years, the current Cathedral is a combination of structures from over the ages, only fully completed at the end of the 20th Century. The choir stalls are modern in design and the atmosphere is one of light stone and open space. The acoustic was stunning and the choir sang very well, in spite of their heavy lunch. Food was to be a strong feature of the tour!

The overnight stay was in a lovely property just outside Arundel where they were welcomed with hot chocolates and then a Full English Breakfast in the morning. Nobody was going hungry. They enjoyed a stunning walk by the River Arun with the Castle dominating the view, followed by an educational water tour out of Chichester Harbour in the glorious sunshine before finally descending on Chichester Cathedral for evensong.

The Clergy at both Cathedrals were particularly complimentary about the standard of the Choir and many positive comments were received from parents and members of the congregation who had no connection with the Choir but had simply enjoyed their great sound.

Singing Evensong in these stunning Cathedrals has already inspired a number of senior students who are now looking to become Choral Scholars at Oxbridge Colleges.