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An Indianapolis choir joined a thousand-year legacy when it traveled to Ely Cathedral near Cambridge, England, for seven days in July.
It’s claimed that a choir has been singing “Evensong” there since the Romanesque cathedral, which can trace its origin to an abbey founded in 672 by St. Aethelthryth, was completed in 1189.
Every year, Ely Cathedral’s resident choir takes the summer off, and choirs from around the world take over for a stint. All total, 42 choristers at St. Paul’s Indianapolis Episcopal Church, ranging in age from 11 to 76, went on the trip.
Fiona Keith, 20, is a veteran of these kinds of pilgrimages, having joined the choir for residencies at the National Cathedral and St. Paul’s Parish, K Street in Washington, D.C. She loved being away from home in a new city, away from her parents, and singing in the cavernous cathedrals.
“We obviously don’t have any buildings or places here that are much older than 300 years, so to be in a place that has some of its newer buildings being a couple centuries old and the oldest buildings being thousands of years old was kind of strange in a cool way,” said Keith, a member of St. Paul’s choir since she was six.
This was the choir’s third residency. They first sang at Ely Cathedral in 1997, and again in 2010. In 2020, after bake sales, choir-themed “Jeopardy nights,” and concerts to raise money, the choir was preparing for a return trip to Ely. It would be Keith’s first trip overseas.
“We were supposed to travel in July, and we found out in March or April that that wasn’t going to be possible because of quarantines and regulations around COVID-19,” she said.
St. Paul’s Indy is part of the Episcopal Church, the American branch of the Anglican Communion, a worldwide group of churches that have origins in the Church of England. In many Anglican cathedrals and other large churches, especially in England, Evensong is sung by clergy and choir as a choral liturgy. Evensong was the Middle Ages term for a prayer sung in the evening.
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Let the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Choir serenade you while you read this article.
During their Ely residency, 60 to 75 people attended each of the Evensong liturgies, choir director Brad Hughley said. The choir also did an a capella concert in the famous Lady Chapel, known for its superior acoustics.
“They clapped for us for three minutes nonstop,” Hughley said. “I dismissed the choir row by row, but the clapping did not stop until the choir had gotten off the steps. I overheard one of the patrons say it was it was the best hour of her life, and she was ‘floating on a cloud going home.’”
One of Keith’s most memorable experiences from the residency was being able to sing in Lady Chapel. She also treasured one of the Evensongs done by the trebles and teen singers.
“None of the adults sang, so we just got to sit and listen to them, and it was just really wonderful to hear them sing in a place like Ely,” she said.
Susan Howey, 65, has been a member of St. Paul’s choir since 1993, and this was her third pilgrimage to Ely. Howey agrees that the best thing was the concert in the Lady Chapel.
“I was crying when I walked out of there, going through the audience in a single line,” she said. “I was fumbling in my folder for Kleenex to wipe my face.”
Howey joined St. Paul’s choir when she moved to Indianapolis from Troy, Alabama. Joining a choir as demanding and polished as St. Paul’s is a big commitment. The adult choir practices once a week for two hours. The trebles and teens practice two days a week after school.
Listen
Let the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Choir serenade you while you read this article.
Then everyone comes together for services on Sunday mornings. There are occasional Sunday Evensongs, and choral masterwork programs on select Sundays.
Reflecting on her third trip to Ely, Howey said, “It does increase one’s spirituality. When you spend much more time with people, you get to know them better, and you get to sing better. So we come back a better choir than we were when we left.”
Listen to sample tracks from the St. Paul’s choir’s services and concert at Ely Cathedral.
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