A group of 35 choristers departed from St Fin Barre’s Cathedral on Thursday 24th April for their annual tour. A coach took them to Dublin airport and they boarded a flight to Stockholm, Sweden, where they spent four days taking in a new culture and singing in three cathedrals in the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

The Church of Ireland is linked strongly with this church through the Porvoo Agreement and the choir found a very warm welcome throughout the visit. They sang for Choral Evensong in Strängnäs Cathedral to a very appreciative congregation who had turned out on a Saturday afternoon in great numbers for the occasion. The Bishop of Strängnäs, the Right Reverend Johan Dalman was also in attendance, having sped back from Italy to meet the visitors. 

The main service on Sunday morning was in the Storkyrkan, Stockholm Cathedral. The choir battled with five hymns in Swedish and sang 6 Easter motets in Latin, German and English. The Reverend Martin Steele, Dean’s Vicar of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, read the Epistle and assisted with the distribution of the bread and wine, helping to make the service feel like a genuine partnership.  

The third cathedral was Uppsala, the seat of the Archbishop and Primate of Sweden. The choir sang for one hour in an afternoon concert. Matthew Breen, Assistant Director of Music, was relieved to be able to use an organ that was situated very close to the choir and with good sightlines to Director of Music, Peter Stobart. The choir were on a specially erected stage in the largest of the three buildings they had visited. 

Between these musical performances, the choir found time to visit two of Stockholm’s finest museums. The first was a warship built in 1628 which sank almost as soon as it set sail. The choristers were blown away by the scale of the ship and by the artefacts in the museum which helped to tell its story. The second museum was the ABBA Museum, a totally different experience where karaoke and dancing were encouraged, and the choristers did not need telling twice, both the young and the not so young! 

The choir arrived home on Monday 28th April, tired but full of stories and having had a fulfilling time away.