Marathon musical challenge this Saturday at Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral’s Adrian Bawtree will be pulling out all the stops on Saturday (3 December 2017) in a musical fund-raising challenge.

Adrian, who is one of the Cathedral’s organists, is set to play 90 favourite hymns and worship songs in just 90 minutes and all are welcome to come along, listen or sing at 12.30.

The hymns have been chosen by visitors, social media followers and the Friends of the Cathedral who were invited to vote for those they would most like to hear played by Adrian.

So why 90? This year is the 90^th year of the Friends of Canterbury Cathedral and all members were set “The Dean’s Challenge” of raising £1 for every year of the life of the Friends.

Adrian, who is a member of the Friends’ Council, has risen to the challenge but is staying tight-lipped about Saturday’s running order and what has reached number one.

“I couldn’t possibly reveal what I will be playing in the 90^th minute – but I am very much looking forward to it. There is no time for a break during the 90 minutes and playing even just one or two verses of each will mean that there will only be seconds to spare at the end. But that is all part of the fun of the challenge,” added Adrian.

Other 90^th fund-raising events by members of the Friends have included plant and produce sales, raffles, a sponsored walk between Canterbury and Winchester Cathedrals by border terrier Winston and a sale of jam and chutney made by the Cathedral’s Canon Nick Papadopulos.