At the end of July the choir from St Michael-on-Greenhill, Lichfield gave a concert and sang at a Sunday morning church service in their twin city of Limburg. Choir Secretary, Ted Green, said, “The two cities have been twinned for over thirty years, with many visits and exchanges taking place, and the two cathedrals have made a number of choir exchanges in that time but, as far as we know, this is the first time that two parish churches have sung together. The trip was a fantastic success and we hope to be able build on the relationships we have made this time, particularly in acting as host to a Limburg choir in the foreseeable future. We would especially like to thank Heide Beim, chair of the Limburg-Lichfield Twinning Association, for all her help in setting this up. She has been part of every twinning activity for the two cities for over 25 years and she also sang as a guest in the Limburg Choir this time.”
The church in Limburg was the Lutheran Evangelischekirche and the two Directors of Music, Dudley Ray and Cornelia Blanche, worked for several months to find music that the choirs could sing together with minimal joint rehearsal time. This included works by Bob Chilcott, Bruckner and You’ll never walk alone, sung as a hymn on the Sunday morning. At the concert on the Saturday evening the St Michael’s choir also sang pieces from the past 500 years of English and European music, including O Sonno by de Rore, Civitas sancti tui by William Byrd and How shall I sing that majesty by John Mason.
Dudley Ray said, “The choir sang beautifully and it was a privilege to make music in the historic city of Limburg. I am enormously grateful to Cornelia and her choir for their warmth and generosity. I want to thank all the members of St Michael’s choir for the many extra hours of rehearsal they put in and also my thanks go to our rector, Revd Abbie Walsh, for backing the visit from the start and joining us as a member of the choir.”
The Lichfield party also included families and friends, and the visit involved a number of social activities, including the Limburg Wine Festival and a tour of the medieval Old City.