Summer Newsletter 2018

Transcription

1 Summer Newsletter 2018 Order of St Etheldreda - Summer

2 A message from the Dean At the dinner held during last year s 25th anniversary Celebrations of the Order of St Etheldreda, the outgoing Order Chairman, Sir Hugh Duberly, reminded membersof the impressive achievements, of the Order. The first Order Council was chaired by the then Lord Lieutenant James Crowden, and administered on behalf of the Cathedral by Dean Michael Higgins to continue the work of the Great Restoration which had been started in The Council worked alongside the Ely Cathedral Trust (itself founded in 1972) which administered the income and spending of the Order to the tune of some 12M for the initial restoration a fantastic achievement which has been the basis for the Cathedral being in its best condition for centuries. The success of the major capital campaign and the Great Restoration was celebrated in July 2000 at a Dinner organised by the Council in the nave of the Cathedral in the presence of the Patron HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. Since then the assets of the Trust have steadily increased through the support of the Order, legacies and sound investment and the Trust gives in excess of 500,000 per annum for Music and Fabric work in particular. The Development Office, working with me, is proud to administer the Order of St. Etheldreda and seeks to cherish and grow the Order membership. The Cathedral continues to be hugely dependent on the contributions of the Order and the Trust for the continuing restoration and maintenance of the fabric and the music of the Cathedral. So a very big thank you to all Order members for your continuing support. At this year s dinner I very gently reminded members that the annual subscription to the Order is now 500 per member. We are very grateful for all memberships, but if you find you re still subscribing at the lower level we would much appreciate you considering altering your subscription and/or Standing Order. The Very Revd Mark Bonney When Sir Hugh stood down as Chairman of the Council, and one or two long-standing members also decided that it was time for a break, we discovered that there was no Constitution or terms of reference for the Order Council to assist in deciding such questions as how big the Council should be, how they were appointed, and so on. It had run very effectively for 25 years without one, but changing times and the next 25 years suggested to me that we ought to have something in place. Therefore at a recent meeting the Council agreed the Terms of Reference that you will find below. Order of St Etheldreda - Summer

3 These very helpfully give a focus to the Council s work, and make it clear about its size, and the time commitment of members. I hope that in the next few months we will be able to secure a new Chairman of the Council (who is not me!), and that there will some new members. So beware if you get an unexpected phone call from me! So as we head into the next 25 years of the life of the Order and of the Cathedral, a renewed thanks to you all as we work together to support the mission of this wonderful place. Order Council Terms of Reference To support and promote the mission of Ely Cathedral. To support the work of the Development Office in nurturing a lively membership of the Order of St Etheldreda through activities, events and communications To seek to increase the membership and raise the profile of the Order of St Etheldreda To act as influential advocates who are active on behalf of the Order To work with the Development Office and the Ely Cathedral Trust in raising funds for the Trust/Cathedral as appropriate, and to be the basis for a campaign committee as and when larger projects occur. To be accountable to Chapter through the Dean for the activities undertaken. To deliver a report annually to Chapter and to the scheduled meetings of the Trustees of Ely Cathedral Trust to keep them informed as to the progress and activities of the Order Membership and related matters The Council will consist of the Dean and up to six other members who are members of the Order of St Etheldreda. The Chair of Ely Cathedral Trust, or his/her nominee, will be invited to attend meetings of the Council. Members may serve for three years, renewable for one further period of three years. The Chair will be taken by the Dean or his/her nominee. It is anticipated that the Dean will nominate someone who can be an engaging and welcoming face for new members, and able to give some time to promoting the profile of the Order. There will be a Nomination and Membership sub-committee formed of the Chair and two members who will seek to find replacements for the Council when resignations/ retirements occur. The Council should meet at least once a year. The Development Office will act as the secretariat. Order Annual Gathering May 2018 Order of St Etheldreda - Summer

4 From the Director of Development We started the year with a sellout Candlemas event on 2 February. Over 400 guests attended and feedback was enthusiastic this is one example: If you ve ever wondered about going but weren t sure, if you re not particularly religious etc. just GO! It is amazing and akin to being submerged in a divine sound bath with candlelight! In May we had the good news that we had been successful in our bid to The Ouseley Church Music Trust. The trustees have awarded a grant of 20,000 to top up their named Choristership. Among donations received in the first half of the year were 20,000 towards repairs to the Nave and Transept aisle floors, 15,000 towards tower tour route safety improvements, 14,000 for Chorister bursaries, and 20,000 towards repairs to the leadwork of the Lantern. Bequests totalling 73,465 were received in the same period. The Order enjoyed a splendid turnout of 100 members and guests to the Annual Gathering and Dinner on 1 May, including the new Lord Lieutenant, Julie Spence and her husband John. For the musical entertainment we departed from choral music this year to present young violinist Charlotte Rowan, who gave an impassioned and technically stunning performance of works ranging from Meditation by Glazunov to Sarasate s Carmen Fantasy. We were delighted to see and chat to many Order members at the Flower Festival preview evening on 20 June, at which the specially commissioned Ely Cathedral rose also previewed. There are still some left (pictured left in the Processional Way courtyard). If you haven t yet had the chance to buy one, get yours now, before they go! Bare root rose 17.45, potted 25. Roses are available through the Cathedral shop or go online to our website at Once again we are enormously grateful to Order members for all that you do, and we always love to have your feedback, so do keep in touch! Helen Bright Director of Development Order of St Etheldreda - Summer

5 Staff move Those of you who have attended our popular Candlemas event, come on one of our London trips, viewed our Choir videos at Christmas and Easter, or simply taken your place at the annual Order dinner to find your own personalised menu waiting for you, will recognise the creative mind of George Reynolds behind all of these activities. George has been with the Development Office for over four years now, and has packed a huge amount into that time in his role of supporting our fundraising and development in its various aspects, including creating the fundraising pages on the website, setting up online and contactless giving, introducing a new look for our development literature, producing film content of our choir for the YouTube channel he launched, and promoting the Lantern Choristership Fund to new donors. It is with sadness that we shall be saying goodbye to him in early September, when he moves on to take up an exciting new role as Digital Content Producer in the Church of England s award winning Digital Team at Church House, Westminster. This is part of the national church s Reform and Renewal initiative, and as such is all rather new and groundbreaking. George says I have immensely enjoyed getting to know Order Members over the years and I will be leaving Ely with fond memories. Lighting over 21,000 candles over the past three years at Candlemas will certainly be something I will never forget! I am also proud to have played a role in attracting people who wouldn t usually have thought about attending a church service to come and experience for themselves the beauty of our Choral Music in the sacred spaces of Ely Cathedral. Order of St Etheldreda - Summer

6 2018 Flower Festival Ely Cathedral s long-awaited Flower Festival Kaleidoscope of Life took place in June attracting the interest of both local and national media. It was formally opened by TV presenter and celebrity garden designer Diarmuid Gavin and welcomed over 17,000 visitors. Judy Wynn, Chair of the Cathedral s Flower Guild and Chelsea gold medal winner, Roger Woolnough had overall responsibility for coordinating more than 50,000 blooms to create 100 spectacular exhibits, with the help of flower experts from 35 Flower Guilds across East Anglia. Highlights included a water feature, floral arches the length of Ely s impressive Nave, a wedding scene, a 6 metre wide kaleidoscope of flowers positioned in splendour directly under Ely s famous Octagon tower and a lifesize steel sculpture of a horse by British artist, Tom Hiscocks. The Festival also provided the perfect event to present the newly propagated Ely Cathedral Rose, which is still available to purchase from the Ely Cathedral shop or our website. Order of St Etheldreda - Summer

7 Order of St Etheldreda - Summer

8 From the Director of Music Some of you may already have heard that I will be retiring in Looking back I see that I have clocked up a total of twenty choir tours during my time as Director of Music! As the summer tour 2018 would therefore be my last one, I wanted to take both myself and the choir somewhere new and different hence the choice of Estonia. In the 1990s, the decade of my earlier Ely Choir tours, we were all much less well travelled than we are now. Sothe prospect of a choir tour was arguably more of an adventure than is now the case. To really excite the sophisticated 21st century chorister it probably has to be to another continent or somewhere genuinely different. I should add that we might have expected this Baltic country to be quite a cool option during the summer, but in the event, Estonia did not escape the 2018 heatwave, and we all fried there just like everyone else! Apart from the intense administration involved in planning the logistics of choir tours, careful thought must be given to choosing the music to be sung. Estonia is known as a land of song, but the native singing is more associated with folk culture than with church music. Among Estonian composers Arvo Pärt of course stands out. But I resisted the temptation to include his music in our programmes, believing that the point of an English Cathedral Choir touring abroad is to export the music of the English Choral Tradition. Our audiences commented on the beauty of the music selected as well as the standards of performance. Last minute changes to advertised programmes proved necessary usually associated with the strange lay out of the churches or the condition of the organ. On two occasions rehearsal time proved either minimal (as with our final programme in the Roman Catholic Church, Tallin, where two spoken Masses intervened) or, in the case of Pärnu, non-existent. Such problems demand great flexibility and ability from all singers. The Pärnu experience was probably the one the boys will remember best and not because of the music this time. After an afternoon visit to the beach there was an almighty thunderstorm which drenched them! The boys had to be taken on an unplanned march back to the hotel in the pouring rain to change into some dry clothing. This detour meant they arrived at the church ten minutes after the concert was due to start and the programme had to be performed without rehearsal of any sort. Paul Trepte Director of Music Order of St Etheldreda - Summer

9 The Lantern Choristership Fund Since its public promotion in 2017 the Lantern Choristership Fund has continued to go from strength to strength. The balance of this endowment fund has almost doubled from the Fund s inception in 2014 and now stands at around 92,000. The idea behind the Fund is simple. We have a group of generous donors, both individuals and trusts, who support a substantial part or all of what it currently costs the Cathedral to support a Chorister. But not everyone can do this. The Lantern Choristership Fund is available to anybody who would like to support our Choristers through a smaller regular gift, or a one-off gift. The date of Ely Cathedral s foundation in 673 AD by St Etheldreda inspired the idea of recruiting 673 donors who would support this important appeal by pledging to donate from just 3 per month. In just over a year we have reached a tenth of that target with over 60 monthly donors, contributing between them over 10,000 per year by Direct Debit, with almost as much again in single gifts. Many of these gifts came as a result of our social media video campaigns at Christmas and Easter. People in the UK and overseas have really enjoyed the Ely sound and have generously responded via a click through call to action button on our posts and webpages. Our next milestone which we would love to achieve is seeing annual donations to the Fund exceed 15,000 per year by the end of For example 50 more people giving 6 per month Gift Aided would achieve an additional 4,500 per year to the Fund. All Lantern Choristership Fund donors are kept in touch with the progress of the Fund and are warmly invited to join us for the annual Chorister Benefactor Service and reception held in September. To find out more, you can pick up a leaflet in the Cathedral, call the Development Office or simply go online at www. elycathedral.org/support-us/the-lantern-choristership Order of St Etheldreda - Summer

10 Fabric and Conservation news 2018 has been an eventful year for the Cathedral Fabric, with the South Nave reroofing project taking centre stage. This has been affected by a period of down-time but has now once again sprung into action, with the reassuring sounds of lead-beating echoing around the building as the remainder of the new roof covering is laid and rainwater goods are renewed. The new glazing is also due for return in the near future, with the accompanying masonry works to complete. The project is now due for completion well before the Cathedral Christmas Fair in November. The Processional Way courtyard paving has been completed this year, which involved archaeological excavation in advance. From the excavations which preceded the construction of the new Processional Way itself, we know that this was the site of an early cemetery, as well as a later medieval building known as the Feretrar s Checker. (The Feretrar was the custodian of the shrine, who protected the shrine from robbery and who administered the gifts and offerings left at the shrine; St Etheldreda s shrine was once plundered in The Checker was a two storey building which overlooked the shrine and allowed the Feretrar keep a watch on the Shrine). Evidence of both were encountered during this year s investigations, as well as drains and a stone-lined cistern. Also unearthed were remains of the ceiling vault ribs of the old Processional Way. The new paving provides a very usable and versatile space, and enhances the appearance of this area significantly. It is intended that the courtyard will be used for functions, gatherings, marquees (as necessary) and various types of events. We thank our generous benefactors for their valued financial support to enable this to go ahead. The North Range project is due to commence in September of this year, and this first phase will see the north elevation (between Sacrist s Gate and the Almonry) cleaned, repointed, and repaired as necessary. In addition to stonework, redecoration and overhaul of rainwater goods and also roof and chimney works will be undertaken. Our new Surveyor to the Fabric, Clive England, has arrived in time to aid us in the planning stages for several future projects, including the introduction of new Octagon and West tower roof walkways for tours. These have now received the necessary permissions, and will be put in motion. Likewise, the new stone ramps planned for the North and south Choir Aisles are reaching the final tweaking stages in terms of design, and this is another project which can then commence. We are also now due to schedule repairs to the Nave and North Transept aisle floors, where stones have become badly deteriorated. Vicki Roulinson Director of Conservation & Works Order of St Etheldreda - Summer

11 View down the Nave from window in the West Tower Order of St Etheldreda - Summer

12 Parry Evensong What most people know about Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry is that he wrote the tune of Jerusalem, a piece which is said to be in the English DNA. Then there is the beautiful hymn, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind. Beyond that many people would be pressed to name more of his numerous works. This evening is an opportunity to enjoy some favourite pieces as well as experiencing the wider body of his choral masterpieces, which have shaped our cultural landscape and religious imagination. Ely Cathedral is a wonderfully appropriate setting for a performance of Parry s works look up to see the Nave ceiling and the Octagon, the painting scheme of which was completed by Thomas Gambier Parry, Hubert Parry s father, an eminent collector of early Italian art and a distinguished painter and designer. All are welcome to join us for a glass of wine and light refreshments after the service. Contact us Helen Bright Director of Development h.bright@elycathedral.org development@elycathedral.org Ely Cathedral Trust Registered Charity No: Order Events and Cathedral Highlights for 2018/19 I Was Glad Solemn Choral Evensong Friday 5 October 2018 Marking the centenary anniversary of the death of the composer Charles Hubert Parry, featuring some of his most famous and beautiful works. Christmas Gift & Food Fair Preview Evening Wednesday 15 November 2018 Festival of Carols Friday 7 December 2018 The Beautiful Stitch February 2019 Exhibition The Beautiful Stitch is the first travelling exhibition for the Embroiderers Guild since it moved to its new home in Buckinghamshire. Order Annual Dinner Tuesday 7 May 2019 Photo credits: Timothy Selvage, George Reynolds & Ely Cathedral Photo Library Order of St Etheldreda - Summer