Farewell

We say farewell to six wonderful upper sixth girls as their time in the choir comes to an end. Between them they have over 35 years of service to the Abbey Girls choir and even longer if you count the years in the Melody Makers which three of them were in before joining the girls.

We are so richly blessed to have such wonderful young ladies in our choir and we say congratulations and thanks to them for their excellent singing and superb role modelling and kindness to the younger girls. The six girls we honour and thank are: Ella, Isla, Rosie, Alice, Orla and Ruth. Good luck to them as they continue with their singing and studies!  There is one final chance to hear them sing. There will be lunchtime concerts in the Abbey as follows and all are most welcome (enter via the south west doors):

Wednesday 27 August – Rosie and Orla at 1.00pm
Thursday 28 August – Isla and Alice at 1.00pm
Saturday 6 September – Ella and Ruth at 1.00pm

Please join us on these dates if you can. Recitals will last c40 minutes.

We also said farewell to Paul Maine earlier this month who has been a Lay Clerk for over 30 years. Thank you Paul for your superb service to the Abbey and the wider community in Bath.

Tuesday 29 July was Gavin’s last recital at the Abbey. He played music by Guilmant, Schumann and Bach to a large audience who gave him a warm reception and a standing ovation at the end. Gavin has been part of music making at the Abbey for over 10 years; initially as a Melody Maker then as a member of the Boys choir. He became Head Chorister towards the end of his time and more recently, aged 15, he became the Dr Martin Clarke Organ Scholar for the academic year 2024-2025. He has won prizes as a composer and his works feature on the recent CD recording Everlasting light. Another work he wrote was directed by Sir John Rutter in December 2023. Gavin has recently gained the organ diploma LTCL and won several prizes in organ playing competitions. Next year he will be leaving the Abbey to study at Wells Cathedral School where he will be Junior Organ Scholar at the cathedral. We thank him for his amazing contribution to Abbey music this past ten years, congratulate him on his wonderful playing and wish him well in his promising musical career. You can say farewell to Gavin on 7 September when he will be playing the final voluntary at the 9.30am and 11.30am services.