British and Swiss choirs trade places

Glorious choral music will be heard in British and Swiss churches this summer, when Ealing Abbey Choir and the Lugano Cathedral Scuola Corale vbegin tours of each other's countries. The Lugano Cathedral Scuola Corale will tour southern England from 19 - 23 July giving concerts in St Mary's Streatley, Oxford University Church of St Mary (Evensong), Exeter Cathedral, Wimborne Minster (Dorset) and Ealing Abbey. The boys from Ealing Abbey Choir, will travel to Switzerland on 23 July to sing at the Benedictine Abbey of Disentis in Graubunden canton and at Lugano Cathedral. They will also sing Mass at Santa Maria degli Angeli Church in Lugano. The Lugano Cathedral Scuola Corale, also one of the finest choirs of its kind in Switzerland, is conducted by Robert Michaels who is British, and will be accompanied on their tour by the renowned organist Massimo Nosetti, formerly of Turin Cathedral who is known for his recitals world wide. The choir is celebrating its 20th anniversary and involves girls and boys aged 9 - 18 who between them have at least six mother tongues and many nationalities. They regularly perform abroad and were chosen to sing at the Vatican in 2002 for the swearing-in of the new Swiss Guards. Ealing Abbey Choir was founded in 1908, and comprises a choir of 26 boys and 6 professional Layclerks. Following their CD release 'Love Divine' the Choir recently recorded for BBC1 Songs of Praise, performing two pieces by Director and composer Timothy Blinko. This month the choristers will sing in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall in a performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion, and have also performed recently a commission for Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. Robert Michaels, the director of the Lugano choir, co-represented Switzerland at a private audience with Pope John-Paul II. For further information, call Charlotte Barraclough at the Swiss Embassy, on 020 7616 6047; e-mail: charlotte.barraclough@lon.rep.admin.ch or check the listings on ICN nearer the concert dates. Source: Swiss Embassy