Hundreds of people braved a thunderstorm on Saturday evening to enjoy a concert of Anglican choral music with organ at the St Joseph’s Catholic Cathedral.
Evensong
Headlined ‘A service of Choral Evensong,’ the one-hour soiree combined choral music set in a religious English-language service which was led by Fr. Nevsky Everett, the new chaplain of the Anglican Church in Bucharest.
The evening’s music was provided by Vox Medicalis Choir, a respected ensemble of young doctors and medical students, musicians and other professionals.
Catholics, music lovers, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bucharest, and members of the British and Anglican community thronged the cathedral in the heart of Bucharest for a service where neither religious denomination nor nationality mattered.
Drama
Emergency alerts buzzed on people’s phones at the height of the storm adding drama to the majestic music which found a natural home in the historic 19th century grand cathedral, which has withstood bombs, earthquakes and communism over its 150-year-history.
RO-alerts is a system used by Romanian authorities to warn people about extreme weather, terrorist attacks and other potentially life-threatening situations.
The spotlight of the evening was Vox Medicalis, the choir that was founded in 2009 by Tudor Ionescu, an ENT medic specializing in the voice, who is also its conductor.
Dr Ionescu said he’d been invited early this year to perform an Anglican choral concert at the cathedral and had „proposed doing something that is characteristic to the Anglican Church which is choral Evensong…which is mainly sung and played on the organ.”
Dialogue
„It shows the beauty of the Church of England tradition, musically especially, but also its openness to dialogue and inter-denominational faith,” he told Universul.net.
„We were honored to be able to do it,” he said thanking Archbishop Aurel Perca who attended the event.
The choir’s mission is to stir people’s curiosity in choral music and make musical culture accessible to anyone who enjoys choral singing with the added oomph of organ and trumpet.
British Ambassador
It is under the honorary patronage of British Ambassador Andrew Noble who attended the service with his wife, Helen Noble, who read the lesson which was Deuteronomy 30.
Alexandru Simion, a PHD in physics who is passionate about the organ provided accompaniment.
The event was held as a fundraiser for the Anglican Church of the Resurrection in Bucharest. The 102-year-old red brick church was built as World War I broke out using funds raised by Queen Marie, the British-born queen whose devotion to Romania has made her one of the country’s most iconic personalities.
First service
The building, designed by Romanian architect Victor Stefanescu was constructed as war raged through Europe and took six years to complete. The first service was held on Easter Day 1920, two years after Romania became a modern-day nation state.
The church plans to celebrate its centenary–which was delayed by the pandemic–later this year.
