Marvellous Messiah!
A huge thank you to everybody who joined us at St Albans Cathedral on Saturday evening to enjoy ‘Handel’s Messiah’.
It was a wonderful concert, with conductor Laurence Cummings taking masterful control of the London Handel Orchestra, St Albans Bach Choir and Mosaic Chamber Choir, whilst at the same time playing the harpsichord! A seriously impressive feat of multi-tasking!
His energy and enthusiasm were aplenty and the tempo was infectious. Ruby Hughes, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Robin Tritschler and David Soar were sensational soloists and captivated the audience with their amazing performances.
The night was filled with memorable moments, but one of the highlights had to be seeing the entire audience on their feet for the rousing Hallelujah Chorus, which was sung to perfection - I think a few audience members even joined in!
We’re very grateful to everybody who kindly bought programmes and donated to the ‘charity buckets’ at the end of the night, all helping to increase the overall total raised for the three charities - International Organ Festival, St Albans Cathedral and Hertfordshire Community Foundation’s ‘Love Herts’ appeal. Once again, thank you so much to everybody who came and supported these valuable causes. Such a great night would not have been possible were it not for the support of our extremely generous sponsors, advertisers and supporters. A massive thank you as follows: Lead Sponsor: Thomas Goode & Co. Advertisers: Britvic Centurion Club Charles Farris Edinburgh House Estates Ercol Hatfield House John Cullen Lighting Mercer and Hole Micklefield Hall National Crimebeat Awards Rapanui Renaissance: St Albans Salamander Pumps Segro Soane Britain Strutt and Parker The Entertainer University of Hertfordshire Weatherbys Private Bank Supporters: Annie Brewster David Cansdale Connie Constantine Ned Cranborne Geoffrey and Jane Gestetner
Gary and Catherine Grant Nick Heather Simon Hoare Henry Holland-Hibbert Kit Keyser Andrew Love Lulu Lytle Morton and Cecilia Neal
Tony Quayle Jamie and Anna Rankin
George Rouse Edward and Richard Rowlandson of RO Group Richard Simpson Jeremy Stuart-Smith David Titterington The Green Bottle Trust Rumi Verjee Dione and Johnny Verulam Lucy Whitfield Also, thank you to everyone at the International Organ Festival for their assistance and support hosting such a great event.