African Sanctus Triumph
Our choir of 350+ students from all over England produced a memorable, energetic and powerful performance of African Sanctus in the awe inspiring surroundings of Canterbury Cathedral.
In what has been an exceptionally long and happy life, last Tuesday in Canterbury was a moment of pure joy for me. Stunningly beautiful music sung by a group of young people "de toutes les couleurs", in a place of soaring beauty; I thought this is what Paradise may be like. Words, for once, fail me to describe the feeling unrelated to anything intellectual or physical: it simply existed in a reassuring sensation of sublime happiness.
I thought it was a triumph. It was impressive, exciting, tight and most enjoyable/moving. You should be extremely proud of all that you achieved and it must have been extremely pressured putting it all together. Adventurous certainly and I am sure many will remember that fondly for the rest of their lives. Fantastic, well done and thank you.
I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the African Sanctus last night. It was the most amazing fusion of cultures, religions, music, voices etc and the muezin's call to prayer was quite haunting. The energy and enthusiasm was inspiring, and the presence of the Fanshaw family was extremely poignant. It is incredible to see what can be achieved in just 2 days of rehearsals and just goes to show that anything is possible! Allan is definitely one of the angels!
Absolutely superb performance last night - really enjoyed it. Allan and his team are to be congratulated on its organisation. A memorable experience for those watching, and also for those performing. Well done! A high bar to start the year with!
I just wanted to congratulate you and your staff for co-ordinating such an amazing performance last night. It was a really memorable experience and the wall of sound and energy from the performers was truly uplifting. I am well aware of the sort of time and commitment it takes for one school to put on such a thing, let alone to coordinate a host of schools ... and only a few days into term! It was an inspired project and I was delighted to be able to be there last night to experience it. Please thank all your staff and pupils involved - it was clearly a community effort!
That was one of the most moving and exciting evening's music I have ever attended. Annie and I will remember it for a long time. Congratulations to you all on undertaking such a massively ambitious challenge and achieving such a thrilling result. It will of course be something those children will remember all their lives. I do hope there may be a recording of some kind.
You must be blown away by yesterday - all your hard work & organisation really showed & was enjoyed by everyone. Thank you seems so tame, but I can't get the music & experience out of my head & I feel very privileged to have been a part of it. Please pass on my thanks to Allan, Lucy, Helen & all the team - you are all amazing people who give so much for the Ashford School community.
Deep thanks go to Allan Clay, Lucy Ockenden, Andrea Brown, our anonymous sponsors, all our supporters, technical staff, musicians and, most of all, the singers.
For all other videos of African Sanctus workshops, practices and performances please visit the Ashford School Youtube page. (The link to this can be found on the homepage)
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