The choir of St Thomas-on-The Bourne Anglican Parish Church in Farnham, Surrey will sing at church services and free concerts in Koln and Altenberg during their annual overseas tour – their first one to Germany. The repertoire will include works by English, European and American composers from the 16th to the 21st centuries, including Palestrina, Tallis, Handel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Parry and Vaughan Williams. Their programme will be as follows:
- Saturday 27 August, Altenberg Dom, 1800 Sung Mass, followed by short informal concert.
- Sunday 28, August St Aposteln, Cologne 1000 Sung Mass
- Sunday 28 August St Pantaleon, Cologne 1830 Sung Mass
- Tuesday 30 August Cologne Dom 1200 motets sung at midday prayers
- Tuesday 30 August St Aposteln, Koln 2000 concert
The Church of England has a rich and uninterrupted tradition of choral singing going back to the 16th century. The choir of St Thomas-on-The Bourne comprises some 14 men, 17 boys (age 8 – 14) and 16 girls (age 8 – 17). The choir regularly sings 6 services a month, plus additional services at Christmas, Easter and other festivals, weddings etc. The choir has a professional Director of Music, Rob Lewis, and Organist, Julian Cooper.
The choir makes a regular annual tour in late August, to sing services and concerts in cathedrals or major churches, both Anglican and Catholic, in England or Europe. In recent years, they have sung in the cathedrals of St Paul’s (London), Hereford, Oxford and Westminster in England, Rouen in France, and Ghent and Ypres in Belgium. Our 2014 tour was to Prague, where they sang two services and two concerts, in the churches of St Nicholas, St Salvator, and St Clement.
In 2013 the choir recorded a CD of Christmas music. Excerpts are on YouTube.