Ex Cathedra's festive concert of seasonal music, carols and readings conducted by Jeffrey Skidmore with Rupert Jeffcoat on organ, in the candlelit Coventry Cathedral.
Ex Cathedra return to Coventry Cathedral on Thursday 17 December for their candlelit Christmas concert, a night that's become a bit of a fixture in the city's festive calendar. It's a long one, running about two hours and ten minutes with an interval, and it pairs seasonal music with a handful of carols and readings. The whole thing is performed by candlelight, which does a good deal of the heavy lifting here: the music is heard in the still, warm glow of the candles, turning the evening into a multi-sensory, immersive experience. It's the kind of night where the audience tends to let the silence settle, usually reserving their applause for the end of each half.
On the conducting is Jeffrey Skidmore, with Rupert Jeffcoat on organ. The programme mixes the familiar with the less so, and the organisers describe it as pairing beautiful seasonal music with a sprinkling of favourite carols and readings to reveal the quiet magic of Christmas, its mystery as well as its merriment. The New Yorker called it 'a phenomenal feat of musicianship', and another reviewer described it as 'choral perfection'.
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The concert sits alongside a wider programme of free Advent and Christmas services, carols and classical concerts with which the Cathedral welcomes everyone throughout the season. Tickets are £39, £34, £28 or £22 plus a £2 booking fee, with £15 for those aged 18-30 not in full-time education and £8 for under 18s and students in full-time education. It starts at 7pm on Thursday 17 December.
