Good Friday, March thirty-first, came around once again. For many it marks the beginning of a two week school break. For the St. Andrews Church Choir, it is one of the most important days of the year. For many weeks we have practised every Friday. 7pm-8:30pm. That is, if we don’t finish late.

We rotate our music on a three year schedule. This year we sang Stainer’s Crucifixion. In the past we have two different versions of Requiem.

Waking up on Good Friday is unlike any other day. You simply know you have a full day ahead, there’s simply no time to stop and rest. We must be at church for two-thirty in the afternoon and run through the entire ensemble until 4:30. Two hours later we were back for the final service. We had two hundred in the congregation this year. We had a new soloist, Kit Holliday. It added a new dimension to the bass music and created a new and exciting element for those who had listened to us many times before.

I asked members of the congregation their opinion of our music, while I stood by the door in my choir robes, collection pot in hand. (I was surprised by the amount of twenty-pound notes I received compared to the usual pound coins.)

“I thought it was marvellous, thank you so much for such a wonderful performance” one lady told me. Another gentleman told my sister how much the admired the soloists. They were “a delight to listen to.” the choirmaster, Brian Sawyer sent an email to us afterwards, all the members of the choir, congratulating us on our performance after the weeks of hard work and preparation.