Six hundred children take part in musical premier at Ripon Cathedral

Six hundred schoolchildren from across North Yorkshire, Leeds and Middlesbrough have been gathering at Ripon  Cathedral to perform a series of specially written songs telling the story of the life of the 7th century bishop and saint, St. Wilfrid.

The children, from twenty five different schools performed the premier of a specially commissioned work, ‘Songs for St Wilfrid’, by the acclaimed Yorkshire-based composer Jan Holdstock – with two performances  - the first on October 14th at 6pm and the second the following evening, also  at 6pm.

The two performances form part of a series of special events throughout 2009 to mark the 1300th anniversary of the death of Wilfrid, Bishop of York, Benedictine monk, reformer, tireless missionary and energetic church builder, who rebuilt the Minster at York, founded Hexham Abbey, Oundle as well as the  Cathedral Church at Ripon.

‘Songs for St Wilfrid’ is a specially commissioned work written by Jan Holdstock, the Yorkshire-based composer who specialises in music for children. The project is a joint initiative involving Ripon Cathedral, Middlesbrough SACRE, North Yorkshire County Council and the Bradford and  Ripon and Leeds Diocesan Education Team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Very Revd Keith Jukes, Dean of Ripon, said the new work continued the Cathedral’s aim of involving young people. “One of our aims during this Wilfrid 1300 celebration year has been to involved as many young people as possible, giving them both an idea of the contribution of St. Wilfrid and an opportunity to enjoy the Cathedral which is one of his lasting legacies. ”

 

Schools taking part over the two days are:

Performance: Wed 14th October 09	Performance: Thurs 15th October 09
St. Bernadette’s	Archibald
The Avenue	Colburn
Bishop Monkton	Barwick in Elmet
Ripon Grammar	Ripon College
Burton Leonard	Fountains
Goldsborough	Grewelthorpe
Greystone	Holy Trinity Junior
Kirby Hill	Markington
Skelton Newby Hall	Moorside
Mowbray	North Stainley
Ripon Cathedral CE	Sharow
Spofforth	Kirkby Malzeard
	St. Wilfrid’s
Ripon Cathedral Choir School	Ripon Cathedral Choir School