October & November 2025 – Before planning your visit, please see our ‘Visitor Notices’ page for any temporary changes to opening hours and accessibility updates. Click here to visit.

October & November 2025 – Before planning your visit, please see our ‘Visitor Notices’ page for any temporary changes to opening hours and accessibility updates. Click here to visit.
Join Durham University Choral Society for their inaugural performance of the season, bringing the reverence of Vaughan Williams’ ‘Dona Nobis Pacem’ and the radiance of Poulenc’s ‘Gloria’ to the stage alongside a 60-piece orchestra.
Durham University Choral Society, described as possessing “a warm and finely balanced” sound (The Guardian, 2024), join forces with the players of Durham University’s leading Orchestras to bring a vibrant programme of choral and symphonic music to Newcastle Cathedral.
Conducted by Tim Burke (Chorus Director for Royal Northern Sinfonia Chorus and Musical Director of Tête à Tête Opera), the evening of music begins with the rousing ‘Gloria’ by Francis Poulenc, a radiant work by the French 20th-century composer that spreads joyous praise with a modern twist.
The second half takes the audience on an extended journey influenced by the First World War from Vaughan Williams’ perspective, with a choral-symphonic work entitled ‘Dona Nobis Pacem’ (Give Us Peace). With introspective, slower movements and the haunting fanfares of ‘Beat! Beat! Drums’, Williams brings these tragic memories to life and depicts the light of peace emerging through the darkness.
With an evening of joyous, emotionally resonant music, this event is not to be missed.
Please note:
Events such as this help raise funds to maintain this beautiful building, continue our charitable work and keep our doors open for all.