Of vital importance in the ordering of the non-liturgical affairs of the cathedral is the direction given by the cathedral's administrator. S/he will organise the daily routine of other members of staff and care for the needs of more than 200,000 visitors who come here each year. It is thus a demanding appointment and one of great responsibility. The post will have been advertised in the church press, through the Friends of the Cathedral and other agencies. It is our hope that an appointment might even be made to take effect from early August when things in the cathedral are at their busiest. It would certainly be a baptism of fire for the new holder of the office.
By the time these notes appear we shall have lost the friendly ministry of Val around the cathedral. Val (Irish born but living for some years in Australia; Josie, his wife, is Australian) ministered in the diocese of Melbourne before taking his recent sabbatical in Ireland. His agreed term of stay in the group ends in mid-June and he is currently agonising over whether to remain in Ireland or to return to his home diocese of Melbourne. We all hope he will find a parish here in Ireland where he can develop his many gifts. We thank him for all he has been to us in the cathedral where we shall always remember his warm and caring personality. May God go with them both as together they plan for the future.
Many people around the cathedral will already know Andrew, and his smiling face will soon be familiar in the cathedral group as well. Andrew is one of that rare breed today - a young man who has come straight from university and theological college directly into ministry, being just about to reach his middle twenties. Those who will most directly receive his pastoral ministry - in the cathedral group - will find him compassionate, able to mix with the young and very caring for the older people. In the cathedral we shall welcome him particularly for his superb singing voice. His ordination as deacon took place in the cathedral on 22 June and he is now resident in Shandon Drive.
Henry Robert Roy Bonynge was a chorister in the cathedral in the 1930s: Ross Brown scholar in 1934 and Winstanley scholar in 1935. Roy left Ireland in the 1940s but was a frequent visitor to many celebrations in the cathedral, including the three flower festivals. Through his executors he has made arrangements for his subscription to the Friends to be maintained in his memory. To commemorate his long association with Christ Church his family have presented a memorial silver candle snuffer. This was dedicated by the dean, at the request of Roy's sister, Hazel, on Trinity Sunday afternoon.
The choir's first excursion this year will be to take part in the The West Cork Chamber Music Festival in Bantry where they perform John Taverner's Icon of Light with the (English) Chilingerian String Quartet. Later in July they will venture even further afield than our, by now, customary visit to an English cathedral. This year they hope to sing services in the cathedrals of Notre Dame de Paris and in Chartres. The visit extends from 16-22 July.
The girls had their final Evensong, before breaking up for their summer holidays, on Sunday 15 June. Joining with the six alto/tenor/bass lay vicars, they sang Stanford's Evening Service in B Flat with strength and fervour. The anthem was, I waited for the Lord, by Mendelssohn, and the two solo parts were taken by the two out-going head girls - Lucy Thurston and Karina Sanderlin. After Evensong there was a prize-giving in the Music Room. Amy Fogarty, Ruth McMahon and Johanna Scully each passed their ABRSM Grade 1 theory, Ruth also achieving 100% attendance and general excellence in singing. In the team prizes the Laserian team of Laura Flynn, Jane Hilliard, Amy Lawlor and Lucy Thurston were the highest scorers in psalm singing. Other 100% attendees were Judith Gannon (2nd year running), Ruth McMahon and Johanna Scally. The hew head chorister will be Andrea West with deputy head chorister Ciara Barry.
We are fortunate this year to have visiting choirs while the cathedral choir is either on tour or on holiday. For 20 and 27 July and 3 August we shall have three English choirs, two of them girls' choirs. On 20 July we shall have the choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, who will be on tour in Ireland. On 27 July we shall be joined by the girls' choir from the magnificent Collegiate Church of Saint Mary, Warwick, in the English midlands. Ad Lib, another girls' choir, but community rather than church-based, will sing for the weekend of 3 August. Mabel Willoughby, a friend of the dean, conducts this group which has already produced a commercial tape of their music. They will also give a concert in Saint Canice's cathedral, Kilkenny on Friday 1 August. More details about August's choirs in August's notes.
Material for August must be submitted to the cathedral secretary by Monday 14 July
