Posted on 29 September 2011
Tickets for the Service at Westminster Cathedral are now sold out, however we have a limited number of combined Service/Lunch tickets remaining. Please visit the online shop.
The biggest event in the Musicians Benevolent Fund's calender, the Festival is held each year as a tribute to the Patron Saint of Music and brings together over 1000 people to celebrate music and musicians.
This year's Festival Service takes place at Westminster Cathedral, and is followed by a reception and lunch at Banqueting House.
A highlight of each year's Festival is the bringing together of the choirs of Westminster Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. The massed choirs will sing a newly-commissioned anthem by renowned composer and Musicians Benevolent Fund Trustee Ronald Corp, as well as music by Victoria, Croce and Elgar.
The 2011 Festival is a celebration of the life of Gervase Elwes, the tenor in whose name the Fund was set up, 90 years ago. To commemorate this remarkable musician, Elwes's great-great-grandson Lawrence will read a lesson, along with renowned British mezzo-soprano Dame Felicity Palmer. The service also includes an Address given by The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster.
Following the Festival Service, a drinks reception and lunch will be held at Banqueting House, which will include a performance by Fund Award recipients VOCES8 and a speech by Fund President and Master of the Queen's Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Following
the success of last year’s Silent Auction, we will again be holding an
auction during lunch. Further information on prizes will be sent out
with tickets at the beginning of November. Last year's auction raised
over £5,000. Please support us again in 2011.
Tickets for the Festival Service are free, but we are inviting our supporters to make a donation this year to help us cover the costs of running this very special event. Tickets for the Festival Lunch are £90 each. Friends of the Musicians Benevolent Fund are entitled to purchase two tickets at a reduced rate of £85.
To book tickets for the lunch please visit our website, call us on 020 7239 9114 or download our booking form.
But hurry... booking ends soon!