Festival of St Cecilia
23rd November 2022Westminster Abbey
The Festival of St. Cecilia, a celebration of music service, was this year held at Westminster Abbey.
It was an enormous privilege to have the choirs from Westminster Cathedral, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.The annual festival rotates between these 3.
St. Cecilia is the patron saint of music. Help Musicians is a charity which supports talented musicians in need.
This annual event raises the profile of the charity and the enormous good it does. Our Livery Company, amongst many others, supports the charity. The Master, Senior Warden and 4th Warden were part of the Livery procession.
It was a fantastic service. The choir sang the ‘Anthem’ (commissioned for the QE II State Funeral); and another anthem commissioned for this service. Nicky Spence (operatic tenor) gave a moving testimonial. Josh Pyman performed a solo with the clarinet. The Rev James Mustard (Exeter Cathedral) gave an interesting address.
What a way to reflect upon the valuable role musicians play in all our lives – something we must protect and nurture for ever.
Then to lunch at The Red Lion, the politician’s local...before attending a briefing by the Lord Mayor at Mansion House where he set out his objectives for the year.