We are delighted to welcome Andrew Joyce, Principal Cello of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, in a programme of moving choral music with soaring cello obbligato. A sense of farewell underpins this programme. John Tavener’s Syvati is a setting of an Eastern Orthodox funeral text, with the cello taking the part of the Ikon of Christ. Canadian composer Jocelyn Morlock’s Exaudi is her own highly personal response to Tavener’s work, while Richard Rodney Bennett’s A Farewell to Arms reflects on the fading glory of military victory, youth, and life itself. This is also a wonderful opportunity to hear Andrew Joyce perform Bach’s radiant fourth solo cello suite in the beautiful ambience of St Mary of the Angels.