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AUTUMNNewsletter 2012for the

Order of St. Etheldreda Ely Cathedral A Message from The Dean I must be one of the luckiest priests in years or more! With medieval buildings, even when major the Church of England having moved restorations have been completed, routine maintenance of the from one iconic Cathedral (Salisbury) ancient fabric and smaller works are constant and the Order to another (Ely), both with traditions of gives significant support to that on-going work. architecture and music that are the envy of almost everywhere else. It would be As a Cambridge Music graduate, erstwhile Precentor of St. invidious to make any comparisons – Albans Abbey, and having a daughter who was a Cathedral so I won’t – except to say that I am very chorister I am totally committed to the Cathedral musical and well aware that both these glorious choral tradition. The more we can enable sponsorship and places rely on the generosity and support to be given to choristers the greater the number of commitment of significant benefactors young children we can give the opportunity to for this life- and benefactions to enable their traditions to develop and changing experience. grow. The Order of St. Etheldreda has a vital part to play in this as we maintain and develop these vital traditions. It gives me huge pleasure to encourage and support the Order and its projects and I look forward to meeting Members at As Canon Treasurer of Salisbury I worked with the Works forthcoming events as together we promote the ministry and Department on the Major Repair Programme. Begun in 1986 it mission of the Cathedral. will probably continue in Salisbury for at least another five Mark Bonney the fabric of ely cathedral Vicki Roulinson, Clerk of Works With the success of the projectiles. project, the impressive clunch Key projects in this area have North Transept west elevation memorial to John Baron included pollarding of the lime restoration project still fresh in Roof: Several areas of lead Tiptoft, in the South Choir trees on Porta Green and the our minds we are aware that, failure on the Cathedral roofs Aisle/Presbytery, has received mammoth task of reducing the due to the absence of secured have been addressed this year. this treatment. Trials have height of the hedges bordering funding for the remainder of Such repairs are an annual also been carried out to two the East Lawn. works (this time to the north necessity as areas gradually stones in the Lady Chapel (also elevation), this next phase is on deteriorate causing splitting clunch) and two Barnack stones Still on-going for 2012/2013 is hold until 2013 at the earliest. and cracking. to the exterior, west elevation, the completion of ‘urgent’ items It is estimated that a further of the Lady Chapel. Different on the Quinquennial Survey. £430,000 is required. William Marsh monument: stone types are being treated in The list includes essential Conservation work continues various locations throughout cleaning and making-good Therefore during 2012 we have and the monument is now the country at clerestory been concentrating on smaller returned to its original as part of this level in several areas of repair and conservation, position in the North Porch. p r o g r a m m e . l o c a t i o n s , carrying out works in-house Whilst we were carrying out The results of r e p o i n t i n g where practical, and using this conservation in our in- these trials will of external specialist contractors where house workshop, we took the be published s t o n e w o r k needed. opportunity to make good the at a later date, ( p i c t u r e d ) east wall of the North Porch although initial in key areas, Labyrinth and Nave: The initial which included repairing o b s e r v a t i o n s conservation phase of d a m a g e d are that the cleaning of the floor repairs masonry, making surfaces of the treated stones painted decorative metalwork have been good areas of appear less friable than before of the Skidmore screens to the completed bar lime plaster and treatment. Choir aisles. the sourcing re-limewashing. of one pink Outside the Cathedral, All these tasks and special marble circular One of the most the historic buildings of the projects proceed alongside stone to the exciting areas precinct also require specialist the constant general central nave of conservation care and attention and we are maintenance & preservation aisle. t r e a t m e n t particularly pleased that during of the Cathedral, precinct and we have 2012 our skilled workforce grounds. We are fortunate to North Nave window XV11: Repair experienced this year is the use managed to complete the long have the use of valuable in- to vandal-damaged stained glass of special trials with ‘Nanolime’. overdue refurbishment of the house skills in the workforce (pictured) and full conservation We have carried out these trials Deanery. team such as carpentry, of the three main lights is still ourselves with, and on behalf conservation, painting and, on-going. The glass has been of, English Heritage. This has The beautiful grounds and of course, problem solving! removed by conservators and involved the trial use of the parkland which surround We look forward to receiving transported to their specialist ‘Nanolime’ dispersion of very the Cathedral also require the funding in 2013 to enable workshops in Norfolk to fine particles of lime in ethanol continuous upkeep. The us to continue and complete complete the careful and which effectively reintroduces numerous trees in our green some of these key projects painstaking project. This same depleted calcium carbonate of areas need regular inspection and continue our vital work of workshop is repositioning and the stone’s matrix far deeper and specialist tree surgery in restoration and conservation of reinforcing window guards within its pores than more order to maintain health and this magnificent building. along the North Nave to traditional lime treatments. As safety standards for both the minimise future damage from part of our involvement in this trees and the general public.

To support Ely Cathedral contact The Order of St. Etheldreda - 01353 660363 - [email protected] - www.elycathedral.org music at ely cathedral Paul Trepte, Director of Music In a recent BBC “Songs of Praise” year with his outstanding singing in many group and ended up as Head Chorister. broadcast the many benefits of being a services and concerts in our Cathedral. Edward seems to have been determined Cathedral chorister were highlighted by Edward was a late starter as a chorister. to make use of his final months of treble certain “celebs” including world famous Having appeared in London’s West End singing. At the end of the summer term conductor, Sir Mark Elder, food expert in the chorus of “Oliver!” he decided to this year he was examined for a singing Olly Smith and David Lammy, MP. It audition for a rather different style of diploma and he is now entitled to style was a most welcome piece of publicity music making. When he came to us it was himself “Edward Birchinall DipABRSM”. – as was the (now less recent) full I pay warm tribute to the work of length documentary from Salisbury his individual singing tutor, Vanessa Cathedral which detailed the lifestyle Scott, for her determined guidance of that Cathedral’s young singers. of Edward’s advanced singing success. Vanessa is one of two vocal tutors who As regards Ely Cathedral’s more work regularly with the choristers of famous chorister alumni, good Ely Cathedral. Our other singing tutor starting points are the outstanding is Peter North, former Lay Clerk and careers of James Bowman (arguably now head of a very strong singing the best known counter tenor in department at King’s Ely. the world) and Bill Ives (until quite recently Director of Chapel Music Master Birchinall went on to at Magdalen College, Oxford). audition for English National Opera’s Yet it is equally interesting to production of Mozart’s “Magic Flute” draw attention to the successes of and he has been singing the role of the younger chorister alumni. Boys who First Spirit Boy throughout September have been choristers during the and October at The London Coliseum. two decades of the Trepte regime I was in the audience a couple of weeks (as opposed to over four decades of ago and I can vouch for the fact that the previous Wills regime!) include his performance ranked among the George Eddy who recently won the best of the principal singers. After the Cambridgeshire Young Musician of performance I travelled back with the year award, Charlie Bick who him to Ely. Having just appeared in a shot to stardom in South America production of national significance, after getting to the final stages of one might have expected at least a the Chilean X Factor, Joshua Darley slightly inflated ego. Not a bit of it! who founded All The King’s Men Edward just chatted like a normal (officially recognised as the UK’s best teenager in between mouthfuls of collegiate unaccompanied singing Ely Chorister Edward Birchinall (centre) a rather large Cornish Pasty and group) and Gus Unger Hamilton who in The Magic Flute at The Coliseum evident preoccupation with his book is a member of the highly acclaimed and electronic gadgets. Delightful band “Alt J” which has attracted “awesome” clear that he had a particularly fine voice - and a superb advert for the benefits of reviews in the popular music press. but that he knew little about the chorister the chorister experience! Such benefits life, and his music reading skills were can only endure if organisations such However, I take the opportunity here limited compared to other boys of his age as The Order of Etheldreda continue to to make special mention of the stunning who had benefitted from chorister training help us find the funds to maintain this achievements of fourteen year old Edward since they were 8 year olds. But Edward extraordinary tradition of singing in Ely Birchinall who delighted us so often last very quickly caught up with his new peer Cathedral.

Sponsor a Chorister

There are many different ways in which you can support Ely Cathedral. One way is by sponsoring a chorister. An award in your name can be presented to a chorister at the beginning of any choir year. This can be for the same chorister throughout his time in the choir, or it can pass from chorister to chorister each year. You can meet the chorister and follow his progress by attending services and concerts at the Cathedral. To sponsor a chorister for 5 years costs £50,000. This can be achieved with a donation of £8400 per year which, when gift-aided, provides the necessary income. A specified gift of £250,000 would provide funding for one choristership in perpetuity.

To support Ely Cathedral contact The Order of St. Etheldreda - 01353 660363 - [email protected] - www.elycathedral.org News in Pictures

Forthcoming Cathedral Events 15 November, 6.30pm Christmas Fair Preview Evening ‘A perfect Summer Party in a beautiful garden’ 16 - 17 November, Christmas Gifts and Food Summer Drinks Party hosted by the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, Penny Walkinshaw, June 2012 Fair

2 December, 6.00pm Advent Procession and carols A magnificant occasion when liturgy and music combine to show Ely Cathedral at its very best

7 December, 7.30pm ‘A FESTIVAL OF CAROLS’ An evening of seasonal music and readings. Champagne and canapé receptions pre-concert and during the interval ‘Good food, good wine and above all good company - in a magnificent setting’ 22 December, 7.30pm Order Annual Meeting March 2012 ‘hark the herald’ Traditional Christmas Carol Concert with the Choirs of Ely Cathedral Order Events 2013 25 January Son et LumiÈre An evening presentation of music and light with the Ely Cathedral Girls’ Choir

22 March Annual Gathering with Dinner ‘After a delicious lunch we were taken on our second tour - this time to the roof by another superb Cathedral guide’ April Visit to Lincoln Cathedral September 2012 Visit to Parker Library, Cambridge – details to follow Members of the Order Council 19 June Patron: Summer Evening Drinks Party Council: at Preview of Ely Cathedral Flower Festival HRH Prince Philip, Mr Hugh Duberly CBE HM Lord Lieutenant (Chairman) Private marquee in Cathedral Precincts Duke of Edinburgh KG KT Mr Stephen Bourne FCA FRSA The Very Revd Mark Bonney September Vice Patrons: Sir Charles Chadwyck-Healey Bt DL Visit to Norwich Cathedral Sir Michael Marshall CBE DL Dr Peter Dawe OBE Private Tour and Lunch - details to follow The Rt Hon Lord Fairhaven JP DL Mrs Sue Freestone Mr Tom Green DL 26 September Sir David Harrison CBE Son et LumiÈre By naming An evening presentation of music and light Canon David Pritchard Ely Cathedral as a Mr Charles Rawlinson MBE with the Ely Cathedral Choristers beneficiary in your Will, Mr Robert Stopford you can help to secure the 14 November future of its music, fabric Mrs Penny Walkinshaw Christmas Fair Preview Evening and ministry. For further Contact Us All fundraising events directly benefit Ely details please contact the Cathedral Trust Development Team on Coralie Green 01353 660350 [email protected] 01353 660363 Linda Joel [email protected] 01353 660310 Front Cover: The Installation of Mark Bonney A selection of Ely Cathedral Christmas Cards are available for sale in the Cathedral Shop and at www.elycathedral.org th as the 35 Dean of Ely The Order of St. Etheldreda is named after the founder of the monastery that occupied the site of Ely Cathedral c.673AD. Other Images: It is the fundraising arm of Ely Cathedral Trust, a registered charity, No 264803. The Chapter House, The College, Ely, Cambs, CB7 4DL 01353 660363 Ely Cathedral Photo Library [email protected] www.elycathedral.org