King’s Ely Junior singers enjoy fun-filled tour of Cologne

King’s Ely Junior’s sweet-sounding chamber choir wowed audiences during their action-packed tour of Cologne.

The 30-strong choir, made up of boys and girls from Years 5 to 8, enjoyed a hugely successful tour of the western German city, where they performed three services and two concerts in just five days.

On the Saturday, the choir sang vespers, mass and a concert at St Aposteln Church in Central Cologne. On the Sunday, they travelled to Altenberg Cathedral, just 25km north-east of Cologne, to sing morning mass. At 4pm that day, they gave a concert in St Pantaleon Church before arguably the highlight of the tour: singing vespers in Cologne Cathedral – a truly memorable occasion for everyone involved as the service was televised live not just locally, but worldwide on the internet.

Of course there was also plenty of sightseeing and free time too, including a visit to Cologne Zoo, where the pupils got to see baby meerkats, shopping in the city centre and a trip to Phantasialand theme park where there were roller coasters and water rides galore.

The director of music at King’s Ely Junior, Neil Porter-Thaw, said: ‘The Cologne tour is up there as one of the best tours I have taken over the last 20 years. I really have no idea how many prep school choirs can say they have sung a live-broadcasted choral vespers from Cologne Cathedral! The chamber choir were a credit to the school and performed very professionally. I am so grateful for all their hard work this year.’

To find out more about opportunities at King’s Ely, please visit www.kingsely.org.