It was Volunteers’ Week and there was a special evensong at the Abbey, with the men and boys singing Stanford in G and For lo, I raise up. It was well attended, possibly helped because there was a party at the back of the Abbey afterwards.
Chamber Choir members count as Abbey volunteers, and get the same perks such as a year’s free trial membershop of the Friends of Bath Abbey. We are exceptional in that we aren’t based in the ‘Volunteers Room’ so miss seeing anything that’s placed there. It also gives us a rather ambiguous status in the Abbey musical establishment. When we were invited to be singing extras in an episode of Macdonald and Dodds, we weren’t paid by the production company, unlike singers brought in from outside. It’s also unclear what would happen if the Chamber Choir sang at a wedding in the Abbey that wasn’t that of a choir member. The choir of Christ Church Bath (and parish churches I’ve sung in) would be paid a standard rate in that situation.