The Choir of Clare College were thrilled to return to the Netherlands, giving concerts in Breda, Vlissingen, Utrecht, Amstelveen and Nijmegen. Their Christmas programme ‘A Spotless Rose’ included works by Praetorius, Fanny Mendelssohn, Kerensa Briggs, Cecilia McDowall, Howells and Jocelyn Hagen; alongside a return of the infamous Clare Choir Partridge… It was an enormous pleasure for the choir to unite with the Bavo Cantorij ProjektKoor for our concert in the Domkerk Utrecht. The choir were also thrilled to join the pre-concert lecture by Hanna Rijken about the tradition of carols.
Outside of the concert venues, Choir members enjoyed exploring all that the Netherlands had to offer in the run up to Christmas, with many enjoying visiting Utrecht and Amsterdam and exploring various food-markets, as well as visiting cultural landmarks such as the Utrecht Domkerk and learning more from our esteemed director as to why we sing the ‘O’ Antiphons and (eventually) how to sing them correctly too… Although his bauble arranging skills may require some more training!
