Choir concert to mark RNLI 200th anniversary at Wakefield Cathedral

Two hundred years of lifesaving and bravery by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) will be marked during an evening of music and story-telling at a choir concert at Wakefield Cathedral.

The RNLI has been saving lives at sea since it was founded in 1924. In that time its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 144,000 lives.

Funded by voluntary donations and with lifeboats crewed by specially trained volunteers, the RNLI is a truly unique rescue operation.

Tickets are now on sale for the concert at 7pm on May 17, 2024, which brings together singers from three choirs including Wakefield Cathedral Choir, Ensemble Pro Victoria and young musicians from Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, part of Wakefield Grammar School Foundation.

It is curated by concert producer and lecturer in music management at University of Leeds Silviu Cobeanu.

Silviu said: "Through song, music and performance, this concert aims to remember the RNLI’s remarkable history, celebrate the modern lifesaving service that keeps our coast and rivers safe today, and inspire a new generation of lifesavers and supporters.”

The programme includes interludes from RNLI lifeboat crew members including Jamie White, a descendant of the family of Northumberland’s sea rescue heroine Grace Darling.

Musical highlights will include Director of Music at Wakefield Cathedral James Bowstead conducting Wakefield Cathedral Choir’s performance of two songs composed by arrangers from ChoirCommunity, a marketplace of high quality and cost-effective songs and musical arrangements for choirs.

The audience will also be treated to a unique and rousing medley of arrangements from an RNLI repository of songs, collected from old editions of 19 th century editions of the Lifeboat Magazine by Ensemble Pro Victoria, led by director Toby Ward.

Volunteer branch member and RNLI Vice President Clive Rand said: "The concert is called ‘200 years and Counting,’ and as the RNLI enters its 200th year, we as a branch are counting on your support.

"We are calling on you to join us, to carry our lifesaving service into the future and help us achieve our mission to save every one.”Tickets cost £25 and are available here.

Proceeds will help to fund future lifesaving and innovative world class inventions to help the charity achieve its mission and save every one from drowning into the next 200 years.