Choral Evensong

Chester Cathedral holds its Choral Evensong on Saturday 7 November, with the Chester Cathedral Choir leading the service. It's a traditional Anglican evening service, so you'll hear psalms, canticles, hymns and prayers sung by the choir rather than a single soloist. If you've never been, it's a quiet, reflective hour that works just as well if you're there for the music as if you're there for the prayer.

The choir is a big part of the cathedral's life. They sing eight services a week, drawing their choristers from local schools, and they've had a Girls' Choir since 1996. They've toured abroad and commissioned new works from composers like Anthony Piccolo, Philip Moore, Howard Skempton and Matthew Martin, so the repertoire often reaches beyond the standard classics. There's also the Cathedral Nave Choir, founded by Dean John Saul Howson in 1867, which is the longest-running voluntary choir in the country.

The venue itself has a long history. The cathedral traces its origins back to a church founded in 660AD, and the building we see today dates from 1868. The organ, often thought to be by Hill, was essentially a new instrument built in 1875/76 by Charles Whiteley and Company of Chester, with later major rebuilds by Hill and Son in 1909/10 and Rushworth and Dreaper in 1969/70 under organist Roger Fisher. It's a space that's seen a lot of music over the centuries, and Evensong is one of the oldest traditions still going.

Choral Evensong runs every Sunday from 15:00 to 16:00 and every Monday from 17:30 to 18:15 at Chester Cathedral, the Cathedral of St Werburgh and the Blessed Virgin Mary. This particular service is on Saturday 7 November.