Yesterday was the 10th Anniversary Evensong to celebrate the founding of The American Friends of the Three Choirs Festival.

Here’s what Rich Arenschieldt, chair of the American Friends, wrote:

This year’s festival is a special one for the American Friends, as we celebrate our tenth anniversary. We are offering something never before done at Three Choirs: a celebratory ‘Come and Sing’ Evensong. The Friends, once a fledgling ‘kitchen table’ committee, are now (with the help of our dedicated band of musical patriots) proud annual concert sponsors. With their support, festival audiences have heard through the years the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, Holst’s The Planets, young musicians playing Korngold, and Master Stonemasons sharing tips to keep a cathedral standing. To celebrate our first decade, Worcester Artistic Director Samuel Hudson takes the helm as Assistant Director of Music Nicholas Freestone pulls out all the stops, the brass of the Flowers Band (plus timpani) accompanies, and the Festival Chorus Descant Singers shake the stained glass with stratospheric harmonies. Festival week evensongs are always special – however, Come and Sing means exactly that. For this service, the congregation is the choir. How often do you get the opportunity to worship in a cathedral with a thousand people singing hymns accompanied by such incredible musicians? Since 2014 the Three Choirs Festival community has welcomed their American friends with genuine warmth. This evening we return that generous hospitality with thankfulness, offering this evensong to the entire festival community and to all of Worcestershire – a place we love, but still can’t pronounce.
—Rich Arenschieldt, Chair of the American Friends of the Three Choirs Festival

This service was both a celebration and a gift to the entire Three Choirs Festival Communities of Worcester, Gloucester and Hereford, in thankfulness for a decade of friendship and music.

(Just like those Americans, to do something never done before!)

We were all very proud of Rich Arenschieldt, who took it upon himself to write an introduction, varied harmonization, descant and brass parts for the final hymn, “Ye watchers and ye holy ones” (LASST UNS ERFREUN), which you can hear here. He thought writing it would be easy, but it turned out to be one of the “hardest tasks he has ever undertaken,” according to Rich himself, taking three months.

Here’s Rich’s video of the moment. The service is sung by the Festival Chorus Descant Singers, conducted by Samuel Hudson, and the organist is Nicholas Freestone. Brass accompaniment is provided by the Flowers Band.

Well done, Rich!