The Fitzsimons Choir
A great silence used to descend on most cathedrals during choir holidays, but over the last twenty years visiting choirs have become increasingly popular. Whatever may be said about decline in some parts of church life, cathedral music is a growth area. Traditions and resources which some trendies reject as not ‘relevant’ can in fact appeal to more and more people, if we use them properly.
In summer 1983 I took a singing group to Ripon for a week. We hadn’t a name, so the clergy put us in the diary simply as ‘The Fitzsimons Choir’. The name stuck. While working in Yorkshire, I became a lay clerk at Ripon, and my choir became part of the cathedral family. We were often asked to ‘fill in’ for occasional services, besides doing a week most summers, and we enjoyed it.
My years in the BBC Symphony Chorus had given me a vision for the musical potential of ordinary folk which I have never lost, so the choir is open-access, with no auditions – at first I had to fight for that principle, as some people thought we should be more choosy. It’s risky (some would say plain daft), but it seems to work; people like our music and our atmosphere as a group.
After I came back to Tyneside in 1995 we visited Ripon once more, and rounded off the week by singing a torchlit Compline in Fountains Abbey, with both plainsong and Taizé music – an unforgettable experience. Now we have about 40 singers, half of them local, but others from as far away as Devon and London. Moving our ‘base’ to Newcastle was tricky, because at Ripon we had a choir school to live in for the summer week, but here we don’t. However, all is well; we have a good relationship with a local residential school, where we stay self-catering (i.e. cheaply !), and we get on well with the staff of our cathedral, who put up with our disruption of their routine most patiently, and are always kind and encouraging.
Next August we plan to sing at Hexham Abbey and the cathedral, plus a concert of sacred music at Brinkburn Priory (25th August). The week’s music will range from plainsong to the present day – we always like to include something by a composer connected with us. We get invitations to sing occasional services at the cathedral or elsewhere, e.g. for the Prayer Book Society, the Latin Mass Society, or at weddings. Then we are a smaller group, and mainly local (though we hope to have one member from London with us on 7th January).
At Ripon I saw bookings by visiting choirs steadily increase, especially in summer. Janet and I like being part of St Nicholas’s, and would love to see a similar growth in vacation music here. We’re always pleased to hear from keen singers who don’t mind hard work – just ring 01661 823233 or email
Kieran Fitzsimons