The highly-anticipated Christmas performances by the Choir of King’s College have been disrupted this year by the pandemic, with Carols from King’s being pre-recorded and The King’s Singers stepping in for the choir’s undergraduate choral scholars.
Carols from King’s is a televised concert of old and new carols filmed in early December and broadcast on BBC 2, and this year was filmed without a congregation, while the two choirs socially distanced.
Meanwhile, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols has been performed every Christmas Eve by the Choir of King’s College since 1918. However, for the first time in 90 years it will not be performed live, instead being pre-recorded. The service consists of a collection of older and newer hymns interspersed with readings from the Bible, and is broadcast on BBC radio. This year it is also expected to be broadcast by around 450 radio stations in America.
Lessons and Carols from King’s Broadcast to be Prerecorded Amy Spagna
The service has been broadcast live from a packed chapel on Christmas Eve for over 90 years, but for safety reasons it had previously been decided that no congregation could be present this year. In the face of Covid-19, King’s also decided to make a recording of the service a few weeks before Christmas as an additional precaution. In the light of current conditions, it is this recording of 2020’s A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols that will be broadcast at the usual time on 24 December.
“Sad though we are not to be together in the Chapel for the service on Christmas Eve, we are delighted that we will be able to share our Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols this year. The amount of travel involved in gathering the choir and crew from around the country for the service, and the possible risks of infection at a time when the statistics are getting worse, made this the responsible, safer
Kingâs College Carols From Kingâs: Two choir members test positive for coronavirus before Christmas recording
The world-renowned Kingâs Singers joined the boy choristers for the BBC recording instead
00:01, 17 DEC 2020
King s College is famous for its choral services. (Image: PA)
Sign up to our newsletter for daily updates and breaking newsInvalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later.
Sign up here!
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes theyâll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.
The world-famous Carols from King s service was saved at the last minute after The Kings Singers stepped in when two Choral Scholars tested positive for coronavirus.
Fourteen adult Choral Scholars usually join the 16 boy choristers to sing at the historic service, which has been televised by the BBC for more than 60 years.
But two Choral Scholars from the same household tested positive for coronavirus last week, meaning some of the lower voice section of the choir had to go into voluntary isolation - putting the service in jeopardy.
Thankfully, the six members of The Kings Singers - a group founded just over 50 years ago by members of King s College Choir - came to the rescue with just 48-hours-notice and the BBC recording was able to go ahead as planned.
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Preparing for Carols from King s (photo: Benjamin Sheen / King s College Cambridge) Register now to continue reading Thank you for visiting Gramophone and making use of our archive of more than 50,000 expert reviews, features, awards and blog articles. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:
Free access to 5 subscriber-only reviews per month Unlimited access to news, features, blogs, awards and artist content