As part of the activities to mark the 325th anniversary of Kingston Parish Church, located in downtown Kingston, the 20-year- old Cathedral Singers of Ontario will be giving a special concert at the church next Sunday.

According to organist at Kingston Parish Church, Dwight McBean, the event has been a while in coming and the proceeds from this performance will go towards the restoration of the 111-year-old pipe organ.

“After several recent annual Christmas visits to St James Cathedral Toronto, Canada, I discovered from conversation with Ian Sadler, former organist at St James Cathedral in Toronto, that it was possible for the Kingston Parish Church to host this distinguished choir to mark the start of Kingston Parish Church’s anniversary.”

The Cathedral Singers of Ontario was founded in 2000 by Ian and Catharine Sadler. The choir’s mandate is to sing twice a year at a British cathedral for a week of services. A choir of 40 voices is assembled twice a year from a pool of over 300 singers from all over Canada. To date, the choir has performed in the UK at St Paul’s Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, York Minster and the cathedrals of Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester, Salisbury, Winchester, Chichester, Wells, Exeter, Truro, Norwich, Coventry, Lichfield, Guildford, Southwark, Ely, Lincoln; St Mary’s and St Giles cathedrals in Edinburgh, Scotland and St Patrick’s in Dublin, Ireland. The choir has also performed in western Canada at the cathedrals in Vancouver and Victoria.

The task of accompanying the choir has been shared by professional organists as well as several young Canadian organists including Joshua Duncan Lee, the grandson of the late Joyce Duncan, former organist at St Richard’s Catholic Church in St Andrew.

During their stay in Jamaica the choir will be engaged in a number of activities. These include a workshop conducted by Ian Sadler, which was held yesterday, an organ recital which is set for this evening, and a workshop for Jamaican choirs set for this Saturday.