Concert date, place and times: Saturday 3 March, Winchester Cathedral

• Rehearsal: 13.00 – 16.00. Please arrive in good time to find your seat on stage.
  We have to vacate the Cathedral promptly at 16.00, when there is a rehearsal, followed by a service of sung Evensong.

• Concert starts at 19.15 – note early start! Chorus to be ready 'backstage' at marshalling points to move on stage at 19.00. Interval (approximately 20.30, for 15 minutes).

• Concert ends at approximately 22.15.

Access: Use the South door of the Cathedral for both the rehearsal and the concert.
Toilets: In the Wessex Centre; the toilets in the Cathedral are ‘out-of-bounds’ to singers and players.

Changing facilities: Singers and players may leave personal belongings/concert gear at the Wessex Centre from 14.30 to 22.15. (The Wessex Centre is behind the Cathedral Office/Education Centre. With the South door of the Cathedral behind you, keep to the right-hand side of The Close, passing the Education Centre and the Cathedral Office; turn right onto Dome Alley; almost immediately, turn right again, behind the Cathedral Office, and you will see the Wessex Centre on your left.) An attendant will be on the door throughout the hire period. The only place to change discreetly is the loo. Singers and players are sharing the building, and the kitchen facilities are reserved for the players.

Instrument storage: North Transept, neatly behind pillars.

Concert dress for choir: Thermals recommended. The Cathedral, in early March, will not be cosy.

Men: Black dinner suit (no handkerchief in jacket breast pocket); black bow tie; long-sleeved white shirt; black shoes.

Women: Ankle or full-length plain black skirt or full-length, formal, black trousers; ¾ or long-sleeved plain black top; black shoes. Please, no jeans or casual-style trousers, even if black; no skirt shorter than ankle-length; no sequins, beads, off-the-shoulder styles, etc; no sparkly jewellery.

First aid: The Virgers have overall responsibility for First Aid at the Cathedral.
In the unlikely event that a singer becomes unwell and needs urgent medical attention (i.e., something more than a case of feeling faint and needing to sit down) during the performance please quickly and quietly convey a singer-to-singer message to the nearest singer in an aisle seat, asking them to leave the stage and locate a Virger to assist.

Bring a supply of water (you might want to label your bottle). Please do not drink on stage during the performance; keep your water bottle under your seat so that you can have a drink (offstage) during the interval – remember, this is a long concert. Please take your bottle home with you.

Music and covers: Singers are responsible for their own black music cover. Please remember to bring yours on the day of the concert and take it home again at the end. After the concert, please leave hired music in the boxes at the exit from the choir staging.

On stage: For the performance, the chorus enters the tiered seating row by row, according to the seating plan. Sit down immediately you reach your place. Do not applaud when the conductor enters. Follow the briefed sits and stands (see pp. 2 & 3 of this document).

At the interval (15 minutes, approx) leave the tiered seating row by row, in reverse order. Please make sure you are back 10 minutes after the start of the interval, at your marshalling point, ready to file on again. When directed to do so, file on row by row, as for the start of the concert.

Security: The Cathedral is open to the public throughout the afternoon. Security of your belongings cannot be guaranteed. Please keep your valuables safe.

Parking: Parking in the Cathedral Close is by permit only. There are several suitable public car parks. nearby (e.g., Middlebrook Street car park).