Saint Patrick’s Choristers in NYC
Our trip of a lifetime began very early on the Thursday morning at Dublin Airport. With the rather daunting prospect of getting 18 children through security and also US preclearance we arrived well in advance of our flight. Taking no chances we came loaded with a ton of paperwork including consent forms, Visa waivers (better known as ESTAs) and letters from the Dean on the very finest Cathedral headed paper just to prove we were very much all together. As an added precaution we were all dressed in Emerald green hoodies with Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Choristers NYC Tour 2024 emblazoned across the front. As it was, they didn’t bat an eyelid and we slipped without incident through in record time. Seven and a bit hours of flight later and we arrived in New York’s JFK airport and were whisked off to our hotel which happened, much to the delight of some and dismay of others, to be Manhattan’s tallest hotel. With daylight fast fading we had time to unpack, time for a brief runaround in the conveniently located Central Park, before heading off to dinner at Romano’s Pizzeria before calling it a night.
The next day was by far the busiest of the tour. After breakfast we dashed off to Times Square for a little souvenir shopping before heading to St Thomas’ Church on Fifth Avenue (home to the US’ remaining Choir School) for a brief rehearsal followed by a procession dressed in our blue cassocks a few blocks down to neighbouring St Patrick’s Cathedral for our lunchtime recital.
For those of you who’ve never visited St Patrick’s, though huge, it is rather dwarfed by its colossal neighbours, it’s only when you enter that you realise quite how big it really is. As rehearsal time in the building wasn’t an option, the choristers launched straight into their lunchtime recital, and magnificent they were. The concert was streamed, and if you missed it you can catch it below.
Live Broadcast of our Concert in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Fifth Avenue (23.02.24)
Following lunch in a well-known chain of Burger restaurants (without robes this time), it was back to St Thomas’ to rehearse for evensong. Music for this service included settings of the responses and canticles written by former sub-organist of St Patrick’s Timothy Noon and an arrangement of the American Hymn How can I keep from singing by former organist of St Thomas’ (and incidentally also a former boss of mine) John Scott who sadly died a few years back. The long day finished as it began in Time Square to see the lights and more importantly a well-earned visit to Krispy Kreme.
Live Broadcast of our Choral Evensong in Saint Thomas’ Church, Fifth Avenue (23.02.24)
Saturday was a day free of singing, largely, and instead was set aside for sightseeing with some of the best weather of the tour to boot, albeit a little chilly!. We began with a trip up to the viewing platform on the 87th floor of the Empire State Building gazing across the Manhattan skyline towards the Hudson and beyond, before heading via the Subway to see the Statue of Liberty.
Quick stop for a pose underneath Lady Liberty
After a brief stop to grab some of New York’s famous Hot Dogs, Corn Dogs (whatever they may be) and Pretzels we began our journey back to the hotel via Grand Zero and the 9/11 Memorial. In 4 very hectic days it was the one time that the entire group was silent, and with good reason.
Our last day began again with a little more shopping including the world famous toy store FAO Schwarz before packing up the coach and heading off to our third and final venue. The Cathedral of St John the Divine, although unfinished by some margin, is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world, and therefore not a bad place to finish. We were joined in the stalls by the choir and choristers of St John’s numbering in total over 70 singers, and quite some noise it was too.
A tiny snippet of the rehearsal in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
Despite a very busy few days our choristers more than held their own in this massive space and its 8+ second acoustic singing alongside the less experienced choristers of St John’s. One quick photo of the massed choirs post evensong and we were off back in the coach dashing to JFK to catch our overnight flight. Thankfully security were equally kind to us on our return and we passed through without incident and with plenty of time for a little Duty Free Shopping for the choristers and some much needed refreshment for the staff.
Just short of 6 hours of flight later and we all landed safe and sound at 8am in Dublin, sadly not quite enough time to be back in time for Matins but I doubt any of us would have been much use by then.
A big thank you must go to David Leigh for playing so brilliantly throughout and Judith, Caroline, Catherine and Roisin our supervisors who, along with the choristers, clocked up quite a few miles during our visit.
Also our hosts, in particular Mark at St Patrick’s, Nicolas, Jeremy, Margaret and Lizzette at St Thomas’ and Kent and Bryan at St John’s for their wonderful welcome.
Also to Clive and Ann for guiding us around the Big Apple, and finally to you the members of the Cathedral Community for your generosity and support making this truly a trip to remember.
