The assembly of 18 travelled for a weekend, performing an evensong at the cathedral and also visiting Wimborne Minster to sing in a second service at a church there.
‘It was a great opportunity for our singers to join the choristers there and benefit from their experience,’ said Elizabeth College’s head of music, Andrew Morley.
‘It was just lovely working with them, and our students being treated and singing as an equal with them was really, really positive. It was a genuinely lovely, collaborative experience.’
The group participated in eight or nine hours of singing, including rehearsals and performances.
Mr Morley said it was a ‘pretty intense’ weekend.
Nevertheless, the school’s choristers appeared to have enjoyed the trip – both for the opportunity to sing in and see the cathedral.
‘I really enjoyed looking around the cathedral because it’s just really pretty and different to anything you see around Guernsey,’ said 13-year-old Alizah Coleman, who has been singing in the Chapel Choir since she joined the school in Year 7, and is now the head chorister of the younger section of the choir.
The choir of 30 includes students from Year 7 to Year 13, and the Salisbury trip seemed equally appealing to the older students.
‘Singing evensong with the Salisbury choir was definitely really special,’ said Year 13 student Peter du Plessis, who has also been singing in the choir since he joined the school in Year 7.
His talents, though, extend beyond singing, as he is also both a pianist and organist, and he was granted the opportunity to play the cathedral’s 150-year old organ.
‘That was really exciting – the Salisbury organ is a lot bigger than any organ you’re going to find in Guernsey,’ he said.
The organ was built by Henry Willis – a man regarded as the pre-eminent organ builder of the Victorian era – who himself declared the Salisbury organ to be his magnum opus.
This historic instrument is not the only famed aspect of the cathedral, as it is also known for housing both the world’s oldest working mechanical clock and the best-preserved Magna Carta of 1215, as well as for its 123m spire – the tallest in the UK.
Former Prime Minister Edward Heath’s ashes were interred there when he died in 2005.
The cathedral has previously hosted other Guernsey schools and choirs, with a senior choir from The Ladies’ College travelling to sing there earlier this academic year. It is the first time, though, that Elizabeth College has made the trip.
‘We received a really warm welcome,’ said College chaplain Rev. Peter Graysmith, who was one of the staff members on the visit.
‘It’s really good to cement those links between Guernsey and Salisbury.’
Guernsey, together with the rest of the Channel Islands, became part of the Anglican diocese of Salisbury in November 2022, which brought to an end a 500-year relationship with the diocese of Winchester.
The school regularly conducts a similar choir trip to St Malo, but staff are now hopeful that the recent trip to Salisbury will lead to more excursions to the UK as well.
‘It was exciting to go somewhere different,’ said Mr Morley.
‘The St Malo trip has been moved to be biennial, so we’re looking at potentially doing an English cathedral trip more regularly.’
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