Dame Mary Berry, Toby Jones OBE, Gugu Mbatha-Raw MBE and BAFTA award winning Aimee Lou Wood are all taking part in the 25th anniversary fundraiser ‘Follow the Stars – Macmillan Carols‘ on Friday December 10.
And for the first time ever not only will the concert be held in at Christ Church Cathedral, but broadcast live around the world via podcast (available from Saturday 18th December via Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music at https://podfollow.com/follow-the-stars-macmillan-carols-podcast) and live-streamed at JustGiving to reach as many people as possible and raise funds for the cancer charity.
To celebrate the occasion famous composer John Rutter CBE has written a new Christmas Carol specially which will debut on the night.
The new carol, its name to be revealed on the night, will be performed by the Oxford Bach Soloists, conducted by artistic director, Tom Hammond-Davies and supported by Christ Church cathedral organist Stephen Grahl.
“John’s pieces are eternally popular with our audience so we approached him and were bowled over when he offered to write an entirely new carol to mark the occasion of our 25th Anniversary”, says Sandra Devaney chair of the group of volunteers who have produced this year’s concert.
Greg Wise, who recently starred on Strictly has also made a heartfelt pledge for donations on the concert’s trailer, found here: https://youtu.be/8pUUSPYxPjU – having cared for his sister Clare during her cancer journey with help from Macmillan Cancer Support.
There will be Christmas carols and choral music, for which Oxford and Christ Church Cathedral are world renowned, peppered with light touches, such as Mary Berry’s reading of a poem about friendship over a plum-cake. And, of course, festive favourites such as, Once in Royal David’s City, sung by a Christchurch Cathedral chorister. The finale is a rousing arrangement of Joy to the World by John Rutter.
And as the concert famously sells out quicker than you can say Merry Christmas, wherever you are in the world, you can listen to the concert this year via Podcast which is free to download and listen to in the hope of a donation!
Available from Saturday 18th December you can subscribe and listen to the Podcast via any of your usual hosts; Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music – search Macmillan Carols Podcast or go to: https://podfollow.com/follow-the-stars-macmillan-carols-podcast
Follow the Stars’ 25th Anniversary concert will be live in Christ Church Cathedral on Friday 10th December. Seats are limited to ensure guests are comfortably spaced and are being sold in bubbles.
For people unable to get a ticket, the event will be live-streamed at JustGiving Page and for the first time this year we will be producing a PODCASTso everybody has the opportunity to enjoy the concert and donate to Macmillan Cancer support via: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/follow-the-stars.
To date over £500,00 has been raised for Macmillan Cancer Support through these annual concerts.
