2021
The Festival of Carols at St Thomas church took place on the 15th December 2021 although it was like none other in the history of this event due to the ongoing concern over COVID-
In the end, 350 people were admitted to the church in total (including choirs and orchestra) in a first where we had stewards and ticketed entry (with thanks to Ticket Source for their services).
A recording of Minuit Chrétiens/O Holy Night can be heard here.
A recording of the Sussex Carol by Elaine Hagenberg, published by Beckenhorst Press, is here
A sum of £1750 was raised for Mind Jersey
JERSEY FESTIVAL CHOIR Director – William Millow
HOLMCHASE SINGERS Director – Angela Luce
ST. CECILIA ORCHESTRA Director – Francis Murton
ORGANIST Nicholas Tall
PIANO ACCOMPANISTS Grace Garnier and Paul Matthews
TREBLE SOLOIST Robbie Tieppo
Once in Royal David’s City
Verse 1 – solo – Robbie Tieppo, Verse 2 – Holmchase Singers, Verse 3 –Festival Choir Verses 4 & 5 – ALL
Festival Choir
When will we see the little one? (Jay Althouse)
Sans Day Carol (Arr. John Rutter)
Unto us is born a son
Holmchase
Nativity Carol (John Rutter)
Angels Carol (John Rutter)
Away in the manger
Orchestra
Troika from Lieutenant Kijé suite (Sergei Prokofiev)
Festival Choir
In the Bleak Midwinter (Arr. Philip Stopford)
Good Christian Men Rejoice (Arr. Philip Ledger)
Hark the Herald Angels sing
Festival Choir
Huron Carol (arr. Sarah Quartel)
Sussex Carol (Arr. Elaine Hagenberg)
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Holmchase
The Little Road to Bethlehem (Michael Head)
Minuit Chrétiens -
Appeal of behalf of Mind Jersey
O come all ye faithful
Blessing by Canon Dominic Golding
Much work goes on behind the scenes to put on an event like the Festival of Carols: for example, here is the team that put the staging together.
The choir was shown on the front page of JEP on Friday 17th December (which also gives an indication of the current affairs playing out around the concert with the Omicron variant of COVID being a major concern for the authorities)
7th December was the Charity Soup Kitchen in the Royal Square -
Our first full rehearsal after COVID “Freedom Day” was on the 8th September although smaller groups had been meeting earlier in 2021 as the COVID restrictions gradually lifted.
