Hark! The Herald, the annual Christmas Carol Concert at Ely Cathedral, due to take place this Wednesday evening, 22nd December, has been cancelled.
The concert, which and marks the start of many people’s festivities and remains one of the most popular events in the Cathedral’s music calendar, had sold over 1000 tickets by mid-October.
The Cathedral released a statement this morning that simply said, “After much deliberation with musicians, senior staff and clergy at the weekend, we have decided to cancel our annual Christmas concert. The wellbeing and safety of the audience, performers, staff and volunteers remains a priority and we do not feel we can go ahead securely in the current environment. We are all very disappointed by this decision, but with the increasing numbers of cases of Covid 19, we feel this is the responsible thing to do.”
Despite this news, the Cathedral emphasise that there is still plenty of opportunity to enjoy the Choirs perform Christmas music at the three Carol Services, taking place on 22nd, 23rd and 24th December. Although these services are free to attend, places must be booked in advance, as numbers are going to be limited to around 300, so attendees can gather in relative safety.
There will also be an opportunity to enjoy these three events online as, along with services on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, they are all to be live streamed via the Cathedral website, so people can participate in worship and enjoy the music from their own homes.
Edmund Aldhouse, Director of Music said, “It is a great shame as both the boy and girls choristers, along with the lower voices and Ely Imps, have spent a great deal of time in rehearsals perfecting their performance. However, we all understand the rational, and ensuring the choirs are well and virus free over the Christmas period is paramount.”
For further information on booking places at Christmas services and live-streamed events taking place at Ely Cathedral, please visit the website on http://www.elycathedral.org
Press release from Ely Cathedral
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