City is rich with arts and culture

As members of the Canterbury Choral Society, we support the letter “City has more to offer than retail” [Gazette, June 25]. From an artistic point of view, the city of Canterbury has two fine universities with the Gulbenkian Theatre and Colyer Fergusson Hall, the Marlowe Theatre with its amazing programme of events including opera and orchestral concerts, the two-week annual Canterbury Festival in October – Kent’s International Arts Festival, and the World Heritage Site Cathedral.

Under normal circumstances choirs both large and small, and orchestral groups would be performing in all these venues and many more around the city, with a variety of programmes to suit all tastes.

The Canterbury Choral Society, which celebrates its 70th anniversary next year, performs five concerts per year, mainly in the Cathedral, including the very popular carol concert, all with world-class professional orchestras and soloists under the baton of Richard Cooke, our widely acclaimed Musical Director.

Our very successful Youth Choir, also under Richard’s direction, is made up of boys and girls aged 7 – 16 who come from a wide range of primary and secondary schools across east Kent.

The children receive a sound vocal training as well as having a lot of fun and they perform with the main choir in many of our concerts.

Recently, we should have been performing one of the finest pieces of choral music ever written, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, but this was not to be.

What many people do not realise is that the cost of putting on these performances is enormous. Most of our concerts would make a loss of thousands of pounds if it were not for the generosity of local sponsors – philanthropic individuals and local businesses.

We are eternally grateful to them all and they are always widely acknowledged. Sadly that is why there is usually only one performance of each work. We would love to do more – roll on the day!

So please spread the word and encourage people from around the world to enjoy all that Canterbury has to offer.

Geoff and Pat Webb

Elham, Canterbury

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