Sunday 19th December 4pm, 'Traditional Festival of Lessons and Carols' at St Katharine’s Church Southbourne.

Malcolm Wood directs the combined choir in the beautiful setting of St Katharine's Church Southbourne.

On Sunday 19th December 2010 Cantamus choir joined together with the choir of St Katharine's Church, Southbourne for a festival of lessons and carols. The church was full depite everyone having had to travel though snow to get there. Lanterns lit the stained glass windows and the church had a beautiful atmosphere. The two choirs (both trained by Cantamus's Director Malcolm Wood) blended together visually as well as musically, as St Katharine's Choir wore their new cassocks for their first major event since having received them.

The music and readings  included:

Once in Royal David’s city                                           

 (Choir only verses 1 and 2)

Bidding Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

Ding dong merrily on high                                              

Genesis 3: 8-15

God announces in the Garden of Eden that the seed of woman

shall bruise the serpent’s head

Adam lay ybounden   Boris Ord                                    

O come O come Emmanuel                                          

Genesis 22: 15-18

God promises to faithful Abraham that in his seed
shall the nations of the earth be blessed

There is no rose   John Joubert                          

Isaiah 9: 2, 6-7

Christ’s birth and kingdom are foretold by Isaiah

O come all ye faithful   Descant Malcolm Wood

In dulci jubilo arr. Pearsall                                          

 Micah 5: 2-4

The prophet Micah foretells the glory of little Bethlehem

O little town of Bethlehem                                            

Cradle song  John Rutter                                               

St. Luke 1:26-38

The Angel Gabriel salutes the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Angel Gabriel                                                         

St. Matthew 1: 18-23

St. Matthew tells of the birth of Jesus

Joseph and the angel                                                   

Away in a manger (Choir verse 1)                                 

                                                                                       

St. Luke 2: 8-16

The shepherds go to the manger

While shepherd’s watched their flocks               

In the bleak midwinter Harold Darke                            

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

St. Matthew 2: 1-11

The wise men are led by the star to Jesus

We three kings

(Choir sing verses, congregation sing chorus)                                                     

Whence is that goodly fragrance C.H. Kitson
                                                    

St. John 1: 1-14

St. John unfolds the great mystery of the incarnation

                                              

Hark the Herald Angels sing   

After the service most people went across to the Parish Centre where they were served with hot minced pies and warm mulled wine, before heading back out into the snow!                            

Christmas carol singing in Westbourne arcade

Cantamus Choir singing in Westbourne Arcade December 2010

On Saturday 4th December 2010 Cantamus once again filled Westbourne Arcade with the sound of live music. The south was blanketed by snow, providing the perfect back drop to the singing of Christmas carols!

As usual, we will be making a donation to a local charity following this event; this year we will, once again, be supporting help for homeless people in Bournemouth. We will be giving all the money collected in Westbourne Arcade this year to Michaels.

Our thanks to the Gallery in the Arcade for looking after our belongings while we sang, for making us very welcome and for giving us mince pies before going home. Thanks also to the cafe who served us very welcome hot drinks during our break, the hot chocolate was delicious!

The choir very much enjoyed singing and many people expressed their appreciation of the music. Comments from members of the public included, 'I thought it was a CD playing until we saw you,' and 'You're the best choir I've heard for a long time'.