The Choir of St John the Evangelist, Friern Barnet, will be collaborating with the Alyth Synagogue’s Choral Society to hold a special concert on Sunday 22 June from 4pm at St John’s to mark the Royal School of Church Music’s (RSCM) annual Music Sunday – an international celebration of church music and musicians combined with fund-raising events.
The concert, ‘Hallelujah!’, will see members of both choirs present a concert of well-known anthems and choruses and will be donating their share of the proceeds to Together in Barnet Night Shelter, a group of churches and synagogues that has been working for the last thirteen years in the London Borough of Barnet to provide overnight accommodation for single homeless people.
The event is open to anyone and singers of all ages and ability will be invited to join the choirs in singing the concluding item, the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’, from Handel’s Messiah.
Speaking about the event, Kelvin Thomson, Director of Music at St John’s said:
“We are looking forward to this interfaith collaboration with Alyth and hope that many people will turn up to hear some great choral music and take the opportunity to be part of the concluding ‘Hallelujah Chorus’.”
Vivienne Bellos, Music Director of Alyth Choral Society added:
“We are thrilled to be singing in such a beautiful church and working with such a lovely community. Singing together eliminates misconceptions, brings communities together and creates friendships amongst diverse peoples.”
Last year a wide range of events took place in the UK and abroad, including lots of services with celebrations of music, a flower festival, a cake sale, ‘come and sing’ events, and a residential singing weekend in France.
Catherine Demetriadi, Head of Development at the RSCM said:
“I never cease to be amazed at the commitment of organisers who arrange RSCM Music Sunday fund-raising events, but in the end it’s about celebrating and honouring the music and musicians making worship that is so precious to us all. I want to thank St John’s, Friern Barnet and Alyth for joining Music Sunday 2014 and I wish them the very best.”
