Lovers of choral and classical music have a date to keep at All Saints’ Anglican Church, Yaba on Sunday afternoon when the annual 3-Cathedral Choirs Festival takes place there. It is a day when the three Anglican cathedrals’ choirs in metropolitan Lagos—the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina; Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja; and the Cathedral Church of St. Jude, Ebute Meta—will perform individual and joint musical pieces to the delight of music lovers.
Each choir in rotation hosts and organises the programme annually. Whilst St. Jude’s Choir in the Diocese of Lagos Mainland is the host this year, last year, AVMCC, Ikeja in the Diocese of Lagos West was the host. Next year, the choral festival will move to Marina in the Diocese of Lagos.
The idea of the annual festival originated in England in the 18th century when the Cathedral Choirs of Hereford, Gloucester, and Worcester held the first festival. It has since caught on in such places as England, Canada, the U.S.A., and Nigeria in the quest to maintain the highest standards of choral music in leading and energising congregational worship, deepening faith-formation, glorifying God, and edifying his church.
Led by their individual Masters of the Music, the three cathedral choirs will perform soul-lifting musical pieces ranging from such classics as G. F. Handel’s “Exceeding glad shall we be” and “The King shall rejoice in thy strength” to C.H.H. Perry’s “O Praise ye the Lord”, Ayo Bankole’s “O seun fun mi o”, Vaughan William’s “Te Deum in G-R”, and John Rutter’s “Psalm 150”.
A statement issued by Mr. Lanre Idowu, spokesman of the Diocese of Lagos Mainland, describes choral singing as “disciplined rendition of music where all the different choral voices—soprano, alto, tenor, and bass—are woven into a harmonious whole. The 3-Cathderal Choirs festival is thus an occasion to feature the best of choral music available in our country.”
