The Choir of Llandaff Cathedral, with their Interim Director of Music, Jonathan Bielby, will be on tour in Yorkshire from 10-13 July.

Llandaff is one of six dioceses in the Church in Wales and is situated in the capital, Cardiff. The medieval cathedral, bombed in 1941, is famous for the figure of Christ in Majesty which is suspended above the nave on a concrete arch. It is the only Welsh cathedral with its own choir school and there is a magnificent new organ by Nicholsons which cost £1.6 million.

The choir of boys and men has just come through a tumultuous year with two TV appearances and the first Welsh performance of Bielby’s Seven Last Words. Their participation in Radio 4 World at One at 50 – the musicians at Llandaff Cathedral explain why British cathedral choirs are world class – has received wide coverage (still available on iPlayer).

The repertoire for the tour includes Welsh composers – Thomas Tomkins , Hopkin Evans and Geraint Lewis, and from Yorkshire –  Noble, Bielby and Lindley, together with choral favourites by Schubert, Ireland and Kelly!

Jonathan Bielby MBE was Director of Music at Wakefield Cathedral (1970-2010) and has since found a new career “helping out” at Magdalene College, Cambridge, St Mary Redcliffe,           Bristol, and since November at Llandaff. We are very proud that for the climax of the tour – evensong at York – we will be joined by the world famous counter-tenor James Bowman CBE.

The itinerary

10 July Fri        Ripon Cathedral         6.00 pm           Evensong

11 July Sat       Leeds Minster            12.30 pm         Lunchtime Concert

12 July Sun      Wakefield Cathedral 11.00 am         Eucharist

                                                            3.30 pm           Evensong

13 July Mon     York Minster              5.30 pm           Evensong

I am delighted to commend the choir of Llandaff Cathedral to you as it begins its tour of the North of England. Under the direction of Jonathan Bielby, the choir is flourishing and I hope that you will have a chance to hear it as it sings in churches and cathedrals which pride themselves on their musical excellence.

The Most Reverend Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Llandaff