Yanagiya Choir Academy 柳谷クワイヤー・アカデミーUK real choir life
Walk with us · Support

Gallery · 2023

Salisbury & Bristol

I auditioned for the RSCM (Royal School of Church Music) over Zoom, and passed. At Salisbury and Bristol Cathedrals I sang as the only Japanese member of the choir — thirty pieces in a single week. Thirty-eight years after first hearing a mass setting as a schoolboy, the dream of singing one in its proper place, within the liturgy, came true.

  • Round the table with David, who ran the guest house in London
    The owner of our London guest house turned out to be a Christian, and treated us to a meal.
  • Salisbury Cathedral floodlit at night
    Salisbury Cathedral, floodlit.
  • The choir rehearsing in the quire before a service
    Rehearsing in the quire before the service.
  • The choir lining up in the aisle before a service
    Lining up, ready to process.
  • Group photograph of the choir on the last day at Salisbury
    Everyone together, on the last day at Salisbury.
  • The standing stones of Stonehenge
    Salisbury means Stonehenge. Five thousand years of history, still breathing.
  • A mural in the streets of Bristol
    A mural in the streets of Bristol. Far beyond graffiti.
  • A mural in the streets of Bristol
    Another Bristol mural.
  • Banksy's mural Well Hung Lover in Bristol
    Banksy's Well Hung Lover. Bristol is his home city.
  • Yusuke Yanagiya in choir robes with his wife Naomi at Bristol Cathedral
    At the end of it all, a photograph with Naomi.
← Back to all galleries