THE P RTAL
October 2016 Page 22
“ After we ’ ve all been checked by the Head Chorister and Deputy , you would go back into the song school for another 25 minute rehearsal just before Mass at 5.30pm . Mass would normally go on until 6.15- 6.30pm and many of the Priests make it overrun by 10 or 20 minutes and you know … we might be late for dinner on those days but dinner is supposed to be 6.30pm . From 6.30-7pm that ’ s your period to be eating dinner and from 7-7.30pm you have another half an hour music practice . From then on , depending on how old you are , you have free time .
“ Year 4 will be called in at 7.30pm to shower , Year 5 at 7.35pm and so on it normally goes up in 5-10 minute gaps between the years so Year 8 and 7 would normally be left on the playground for a bit longer . At 8.20pm all of us should have been showered and then we ’ d have assembly and lights out at 9pm . The food is really good .“
Julian told us the choir sings in English , Latin , Italian , French and German . As well as singing , he plays the trumpet and the piano . Lukas also plays the piano .
“ I ’ m grade six on the trumpet ; I have hardly started . I ’ ve been practicing for bands and stuff and because I was at Year 8 , which is a much more intense year , it ’ s really difficult , because you have Common Entrance and 13 + exams . Because I was in the top set I was doing level 3 and level 2 stuff , so it was really , really difficult .”
The School tries to make Christmas pretty special for the Choristers . Julian enjoys Midnight Mass . “ That ’ s pretty amazing . We go to bed at 1am , or maybe 2.30am most times it ’ s 2.30am . On Christmas Eve we ’ d sing Mass and then go to bed for 4-5 hours .
“ Then when we wake up we ’ d all run downstairs to the Refectory , which is a couple of floors below us , and there will be a Christmas tree with stockings for each of us with big-ish presents ; small enough that they would fit in there , but you know . Then when we come home we have Christmas again !”
Julian has completed his final term at Westminster . For the new School Year he is going to Downside . He thinks the singing there is good .
It was obviously a musical house ; there were instruments all over the place . We asked Gisele , the boys ’ Mother , about music and how it came about that her boys went to Westminster Cathedral Choir School . Was it just that it ’ s a musical house so that ’ s what happens , or did she particularly want them to go there ?
Gisele said , “ There was no intention for them to sing in a choir at all . It wasn ’ t a thought that we even pondered . Derek ( her husband ) and I both always loved listening to beautiful Cathedral Choirs . He grew up singing in a choir and loved singing in a choir . I did too ; it wasn ’ t a church choir but we both loved the Cathedral , the idea of the Cathedral choir and music in the Liturgy . We were home-educating Julian at the time when he went to Salisbury to hear the Christmas procession , so it was just a family outing .
“ There was a little notice at the back saying ‘ if your child is at this age and interested …’ and Julian asked if he could try . I actually knew the conductor because I was playing in an orchestra which he was conducting at the time , so I spoke to him and he said , “ Just bring him along .” The audition was just the next week , so we brought him and that ’ s when … well , he told you that story . It all happened very suddenly .
“ We have five children . Our next one has already passed his first audition and has another one in September . He ’ d like to follow next year as a Probationer if he gets in and if we can provide the finances .
“ I ’ ll just express something my husband was hoping would come out of the interview and that is that his hope is that the wider Ordinariate community will recognise the importance of children having a wellrounded musical education in order to then give back to the Ordinariate and help to live and keep alive the English tradition ; the English musical tradition outside of the Anglican Church but in the Catholic Church .”
Husband Derek added , “ I consider English church music to be one of the greatest aspects of our patrimony . I very much love Anglican chant and English liturgical music generally and was blessed to grow up in a parish that valued it . ( Ironically , our choir director was a Catholic .) When I came back to the faith in my twenties , it was through an Anglican church with an incredible choir and rich musical tradition .
“ I have great hope that the Ordinariate will grow in the UK , despite our humble beginnings , and I think that liturgy served by heavenly music can play an important role . While we wait and all work toward an Ordinariate that can offer our own choir schools , we as a family are making sacrifices to send our boys to WCCS , so that as they mature they can offer their gifts to the service of our Ordinariate family .”
We are really grateful to Gisele and her family for allowing us into their home and for this interview . We are also very grateful for the tea and chocolate cake they provided . It was lovely !”