Bradford Cathedral will welcome Voces Usuales as a guest visiting choir for three services near the end of April.

Voces Usuales will lead the worship at Bradford Cathedral on Sunday 24th April – at the 10:30am Eucharist service, and the 3:30pm Choral Evensong – as well as an extra Evensong on Saturday 23rd April 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 1662. 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 (during term-time), and Sundays at 3:30pm.

Voces Usuales is a visiting choir that sing services twice a year in English cathedrals. They are a collection of adult singers who have gained considerable experience in Anglican church music in a number of different settings. Their aim as a visiting choir, from different parts of the UK, is to support cathedral worship through performing the best of the Anglican sacred choral tradition.

The choir is run by Matthew and Sinead Andrews. Originally founded in 2008, the choir was the idea of Matthew and his friend Richard Reece who had sung together in the chapel at St Chad's College in Durham. The idea quickly grew and the group expanded to include new members from other choirs who all shared a common interest in sacred choral music. There are now around 25 regular members, around 18 of whom gather on any occasion.

Dr Matthew Andrews, Producer of Voces Usuales, says:

“We are looking forward to visiting Bradford and singing in the cathedral in April. We have chosen music which covers a broad range of different styles, from the grandeur of Blair’s evening service in B minor or the well-known anthem by Balfour Gardiner ‘Evening Hymn’, to the less familiar setting of words from Psalm 145, ‘The eyes of all wait upon Thee, O Lord’ by Gibbons. I am especially looking forward to singing Jackson’s communion service in G.

“Francis Jackson was a proud Yorkshireman, born in Malton, and so it seemed only fitting that we marked both our visit to Bradford and his death in January this year by adding one of his many excellent and popular compositions to our music list.”

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

“It is wonderful to finally be able to welcome Voces Usuales to Bradford Cathedral.

“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 https://bradfordcathedral.org/music/visiting-choirs#voces-usuales