Light in Darkness
The Advent Christmas Services of Lessons & Carols brought us to the end of the Michaelmas term in fine fashion and led us into the last few days of classes and the beginning of exams which are another way of concluding the term! I am most grateful for the enthusiasm, commitment, and seriousness with which readers, singers, instrumentalists, servers, and students conducted themselves.
The Junior School Advent Christmas Service has a rather special quality and feel to it. The Grade Six class under the direction of Mr. Kevin Simonar performed an intriguing and sweet version of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ by Tom Race, a contrast to the more familiar tune by Gustav Holst. Anne MacQuarrie played a lovely version of ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’ on violin. The students who read in a dignified and serious way the scripture readings were Ruby Wheelock, Vincent Armstrong, Laila Violante Munoz, Dami Adeniji, Sofia Ning, Drew Zettler, and Will Larder. The eighth lesson was read by Mrs. Taya Shield, the Director of the Junior School. Hand candles were lit for the ninth lesson, sung by the Chaplain, and for the singing of ‘Silent Night’. The servers were the wonderful cadre of Jacob Fines-Belcham, Kelsey Griffith, Ryan MacDougall, and Dulce Upton. The service ended with Mr. Pat LePoidevin and Chaz Faucher playing ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ on bagpipes and leading the Junior School and Faculty out of the Chapel. A memorable event. Many thanks to Mr. Kevin Lakes for his help and assistance.
On Sunday night, the Grade 12s had their special Advent Christmas Service of Lessons & Carols, special because it is the last such service for them in their time at King’s-Edgehill School. Emma Toupe and the Choir, under the direction of Stephanie Fillman, contributed to the Matins’ Responsory of Palestrina which bracketed the entire service. The Choir played a leading role in the singing of the Carols and, especially, in the verses of the Veni Emmanuel which were interspersed among the readings. The Choir members were Maya Faucher, Lucy Goddard, Emma Toope, Dakota Bagshaw, Lennon Rutledge, Evey Kennedy, Jessica Etou, Hannah Stillwell and Gabby Strickey.
Lennon Rutledge played and sang a lovely and moving version of ‘Mary did you know?’, with great confidence and ability, while Lucy Goddard’s vocals of ‘Breath of Heaven’ with keyboard accompaniment by Ms. Baylee Saulnier and by Mitchell Larkin on English Horn and Oboe were outstanding. The Choir did a fine job in their rendering of ‘Silent Night’ following the ninth lesson. The student readers were Megan Mattie, Will Ahern (Head Boy), Abby Mercer, Thane Morgan, Abbygayle Evelyn, Stanislav Matkovskyi, and Gabby Strickey (Head Girl), all of whom read well and clearly. The Headmaster and the Chaplain read the eighth and ninth lessons respectively. The servers were Hlib ‘Gleb’ Proshkyn, Zhi (Angel) Li, Bella Turner-Galaise, Carter Short, and Gala Holm.
The same order and programme was followed on Monday for the service for the Grade 10s and 11s, albeit with different readers and servers. The student readers were Julia Field, Will Ahern, Adaoma Ukaegbu, HyunSeo ‘Harrison’ Kim, Jessica Etou Nkaa, Sean Hurley and Gabby Strickey; once again, the eighth lesson and the ninth were read by the Headmaster and the Chaplain. The servers were Verneri Metsahuone, Graydon Spence, Kaelan Bakker, Weizhe ‘Alan’ Xu, and Lucas Martin. The Choir did a magnificent job of leading the singing for the service. Sean Hurley, along with reading one of the lessons, led us out of the Chapel while playing the bagpipes!
Many thanks to Mr. Steven Roe who played the organ at all three of these services and who lent his wonderful voice to the Matins’ Responsory of Palestrina.
It was wonderful to end the term and Chapel on such a high note with these Advent Christmas Services of Lessons & Carols, at once moving and, I hope, reflective of the deeper meaning of the holy season. My great gratitude to all who helped out, especially the cadre of Chapel Prefects under Stanislav Matkovskyi’s direction who got things underway so well and so effortlessly, testament to their commitment and sense of holy purpose. These services are a collegiate effort and speak to the spiritual and intellectual qualities of the School in its faithfulness to the principles which belong to its educational purpose and life. They are testimony to the way in which we have been able to continue on sensibly and compassionately in the face of the current fears and worries of our culture. They are about light in darkness, about hope in the face of despair, about comfort and strength in times of anxiety, about peace and joy. For that may God be praised. A blessed and holy Christmas to all!
(Rev’d) David Curry
Chaplain, Head of English & ToK Teacher,
Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy