FCMG London Children’s Choir -
France Tour 2007

At the end of half term, 64 members of the Senior and Chamber choirs travelled to France to deliver a wonderful series of concerts. You can see our concert programme here.

We set off very early on the morning of Thursday 26th October, arriving in Reims youth hostel in the evening. By the end of the tour I think most of the children knew how to pronounce Reims.

On Friday morning we had our first rehearsal in Reims Cathedral. This included time to admire the wonderful building, including it’s stained glass windows by Marc Chagall.

On Friday evening we had our first concert in Eglise de Glennes, which has very impressive modern stained glass windows. This tiny village managed to fill their church and the choir was treated to a standing ovation at the end of the concert, followed by drinks and cake for the whole audience as well as the choir.

Our concert on Saturday was in Basilique Notre Dame de Charleville Mezières. This was a much larger church and there was another impressive audience who clearly appreciated the music.

Our final concert was in Reims Cathedral, immediately after Sunday Mass. The Cathedral was open to visitors but everyone seemed to be sitting in silence listening to the choir.

As well as all the rehearsals and performances, there was plenty of time for social activities, including a trip to a bowling alley, where even the chaperones were forced to display their meagre skills. We went for a boat trip through the vineyards of the Marne Valley, and descended to the bowels of the Mercier champagne cellars. There was also plenty of time for shopping, or window-shopping, in the centre of Reims.

We had a full complement of adult staff, including Grace Rossiter (Conductor), Steve Jeffes (Choir Master) and John Evanson (Accompanist), as well as our chaperones Jannie Dinham, Jim Dunne, Anna Evans, Babs Howe, Sarah Phillips and Stuart Rance.