Spectacular start to Organ Festival with Three Cathedral Choirs concert

Norwich Cathedral’s Organ Reborn! 2024 Festival kicked off in spectacular style with the magnificent sound of three Cathedral Choirs in concert together.

Norwich Cathedral Choir was joined by Ely and Peterborough on Saturday night (6 July) for the opening event of the special nine-day festival celebrating the return of Norwich’s historic pipe organ following an ambitious £1.8m rebuild project.

The all-East Anglian celebration from three of the country’s leading Cathedral Choirs treated the audience to the music of Handel, Mozart, Rutter and more.

Ashley Grote, the Cathedral’s Master of Music, said: “It was thrilling to begin our festival with the sound of over 120 singers from three Cathedral Choirs performing together.

“The festival is now in full swing, and we are looking forward to welcoming large numbers of people to the Cathedral throughout the week.

“It will be wonderful to have high profile groups such as the BBC Singers and the Britten Sinfonia with us, and there are many other concerts and events to enjoy, not least our free family ‘Battle of the Organs’ concert on Saturday at 11am!”

There’s lots more still to come in the festival including two more headline concerts from world-leading ensembles the BBC Singers and Britten Sinfonia.

This Thursday (11 July) the BBC Singers will perform a jubilant mix of works by East Anglian composer Benjamin Britten and settings of texts by medieval mystic Julian of Norwich.

Meanwhile on Saturday (13 July), the festival finale concert will see Britten Sinfonia team up with Norwich Cathedral Choir for an extra special concert featuring the music of Fauré, Poulenc and Duruflé.

Tickets for both concerts cost £15- £35 and can be booked at https://cathedral.org.uk/organ-festival/

The festival runs until Sunday 14 July and is also taking to the national airwaves with three BBC Radio Three broadcasts.

Choral Evensong will be broadcast live at 3pm on Wednesday 10 July, the BBC Singers concert will be broadcast live at 7.30pm on Thursday 11 July, and a recital by organ star and social media sensation Anna Lapwood on Friday 12 July will be recorded for broadcast on Tuesday 16 July at 7.30pm.

There’s fun for all the family at 11am on Saturday 13 July with the Norwich Cathedral’s three organists joining forces to take part in a free Battle of the Organs extravaganza featuring musical favourites including the theme from Thunderbirds!

People can also take a trip back in time to the era of silent movies on Wednesday 10 July, with Leicester Square Odeon organist Donald MacKenzie providing the musical accompaniment to the 1928 Buster Keaton classic Steamboat Bill, Jr.

The Organ Reborn! 2024 Festival runs until Sunday 14 July 2024. See the full festival line-up at cathedral.org.uk/organ-festival

The festival is being generously underwritten by The Statham Society which supports the musical life of Norwich Cathedral.

Pictures of the Three Cathedral Choirs concert by Bill Smith.