St Cecilia Day service a celebration of music

Wednesday, 19th November 2025

St Cecilia Day service a celebration of music

A service to Mark the Festival of St Cecilia - the patron saint of music and musicians - was held at Westminster Abbey in conjunction with Help Musicians UK on Wednesday 19th November 2025.

The service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, who said in his Bidding:

Today, we give thanks for the witness of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr, and for the gift of music which tunes our voices in the harmony of praise. This holy place is a House of Kings and Queens and a place of memory, where we name and recall the gifts and virtues that we rightly celebrate. Here are Purcell, Vaughan Williams, William Croft, and so many more. Here, we gather different choirs and celebrate in the company of those who care for and sustain our choral heritage. We give thanks for their efforts and especially for the work of Help Musicians. Now we make our offering of praise confident in the loving mercy of God and inspired that we now take our place in the community of praise.

The service was sung by the combined choirs of Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral, conducted by Andrew Nethsingha, the Abbey's Organist and Master of the Choristers. Among the music was an Anthem for St Cecilia's Day by Piers Connor Kennedy, commissioned specially for the service.

Soprano Sophie Bevan read a testimonial and also sang Ave Maria from Verdi's Otello.

The Very Reverend Dr Mark Oakley, Dean of Southwark, gave the address. 

Antoinette-Rita Okoiye gave a reading from 2 Chronicles 29; and Robert Alderman read from Colossians 3.

Prayers were led by the Reverend Robert Latham, the Abbey's Minor Canon and Precentor.

  

The organ was played during the service by Matthew Jorysz, Sub-Organist, Westminster Abbey. Trumpets were played by Julie Ryan and Tim Hawes. Peter Stevens, Assistant Master of Music, Westminster Cathedral, played before the service and James Orford, Organist, St Paul’s Cathedral, afterwards.

Members of the livery companies of the City of London processed through the Abbey church before the service.

Help Musicians UK

Help Musicians UK is a charity for professional musicians of all genres, both in work and in retirement.

The Festival of St. Cecilia has been the flagship event in the charity's calendar since 1946. It is a moment to celebrate what music brings to all of us, and to mark the contribution that musicians make to our lives.

Discover more

Order of service for the Festival of St Cecilia (404KB)

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