Christchurch Cathedral Choir and Court Theatre Combine For Christmas
Some of the choristers in Santa hats
The Court Theatre and the Cathedral Choir are joining artistic forces on December 21st to present a festive evening that
promises to be a spectacular display of wonderful music and great theatre.
The Celebrate Christmas performance is a “one night only performance to raise funds for the rebuild of Christchurch Cathedral. It will combine
readings and poetry by Court theatre actors with seasonal music and carols from the Cathedral Choir.
The idea was the brainchild of Court Theatre Chief Executive Philip Aldridge whose son, Dominic, is a senior chorister
with the Choir, which is the only professional men and boys choir in New Zealand, and one of only two in the Southern
Hemisphere.
“The Cathedral Choir has been invited to sing at Westminster Abbey ”, says Aldridge, “The quality is world class and recognized internationally. This concert will give a wider audience
the opportunity to hear them sing.”
The Cathedral choir has been singing temporarily in Christ’s College Chapel since the Cathedral was severely damaged in
the February earthquake. Attendances, particularly by tourists, have fallen markedly since the quake.
“Before the earthquake in February a large number of tourists would pop in for a look at the Cathedral and stay to
listen to the choir”, says Cathedral administrator Chris Oldham. “Now that we are in Christ’s College this doesn’t
really happen anymore. It will be great for the boys and men to sing for an audience of hundreds next week, as they used
to, and it will remind Christchurch of this gem that they have in their midst”.
Cathedral Musical Director, Brian Law says they are all looking forward to the concert.
“We have done this sort of thing on a limited scale before but never with the added element of comedy and never at
Christmas,” he says.
ENDS