Bradford Cathedral will welcome The Lynwood Singers as a guest visiting choir for three services at the end of February.

The Lynwood Singers will lead the worship at Bradford Cathedral on Sunday 27th February – at the 10:30am Eucharist service, and the 3:30pm Choral Evensong – as well as an extra Evensong on the Saturday 26th February at 5:30pm.

You are welcome to join any of these services in person and the two Sunday services will also be streamed live via the Bradford Cathedral YouTube channel.

Choral Evensong is a sung evening service, which follows a pattern from the 1600s. The choir leads the worship, singing psalms, canticles and hymns on behalf of the congregation. At Bradford Cathedral, Choral Evensong is currently held regularly three times a week, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 5:30pm, and Sundays at 3:30pm.

The Lynwood Singers was formed in 2007, and their choir members come from many parts of the country and meet on three or four occasions each year to sing the services for a weekend, or a week, in various cathedrals, abbeys, minsters, and other churches.

The singers themselves come from different churches and wear the robes of their own choirs, which makes for a colourful array of different coloured cassocks when they sing together.

Ali Stimpson, Choir Secretary for the Lynwood Singers, says:

“The choir has so far sung services in 25 English Cathedrals, from Durham and Carlisle in the north to Canterbury and Truro in the south, as well as Westminster Abbey, Bath Abbey and St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

“The choir is very pleased to be leading the worship this weekend in Bradford Cathedral.

“Musical highlights for the weekend will include, at the Saturday Evensong, works written over 400 years ago by Thomas Tomkins and William Mundy and at the Sunday Evensong, pieces by the 20th century doyens of English church music Herbert Howells and the Yorkshireman Sir Edward Bairstow.

“At the Sunday morning Eucharist the choir will sing a Latin motet by the living Italian composer Cristian Gentilini."

Graham Thorpe, Bradford Cathedral’s Assistant Director of Music, says:

“It is wonderful finally to be able to welcome the Lynwood Singers to Bradford Cathedral, having been postponed by more than two years.

“The Lynwood Singers are the first visiting choir to come since the Covid pandemic. It is a privilege that they will provide top-class choral music for the cathedral’s daily worship in the absence of the cathedral choir, while they are on their holiday.”

For more information about joining the services and how to stream them live, please visit bradfordcathedral.org/worship/latest-information/