A year 11 pupil from Twyford Church of England High School shares her experience of performing at the Mayor’s Christmas Carol service at Southwark Cathedral last year.
Last year I performed with my school gospel choir at Southwark Cathedral for the Mayor’s Christmas Carol service. We performed a number of festive carols for the Mayor and a number of VIPs to get them into the spirit of Christmas!
My schools gospel choir was asked to perform at the service by the Mayor of London. We were all very honoured to be chosen and were excited to get started with rehearsing. We were chosen because we had performed in a number of other major venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, St Martin’s in the Field and St Paul’s Cathedral, so it was an added bonus for us to be able to take part in the Mayor’s carol service.
There were over 900 people in the cathedral, a mix of VIPs and members of the public. The VIPs included the London Assembly, TfL ambassadors and many more local community groups. It was a great feeling to sing in front of them! My choir is used to performing in front of well-known faces and lots of people so I suppose the nerves weren’t that bad. We wore our school uniform to represent our choir and to look professional – we all felt very smart.
Southwark Cathedral is a beautiful venue to host the carol service. The high ceiling and walls make it feel even more festive! As a choir it can be quite hard sometimes to engage people in the types of songs we sing. So it was great to see everyone singing along and enjoying the service, that’s my favourite part about performing.
I would highly recommend attending the Mayor’s Christmas Carol service. Not only will it get you in the Christmas spirit, it will be a beautiful experience that you won’t forget!
I would like to encourage more school choirs to take part in opportunities around them. Whether it be small events or large, there is no greater feeling than taking part.
The Mayor’s Christmas Carol service is a free ticketed event.
Entry on the night is on a first come, first served basis and a ticket does not guarantee you a seat, so we advise you arrive early to avoid disappointment.