ON Saturday, September 23 at 3.30pm Concordiamici, accompanied by Thomas Dixon and John Chapman at the organ and directed by Dr Judy Blezzard, will sing Choral Evensong at St John's Church in Menston.

The music which dates from the 16th to the 20th centuries will be "O Gladsome Light O Grace" by Louis Bourgeois as an Introit, the Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in A Flat by Samuel Arnold, Psalms to chants by Fisher, Garrett, and Blezzard, the Preces and Responses by Thomas Tallis and the Anthem "Nations, give thanks to the Lord" by Felix Mendelssohn (ed Blezzard).

There will also be some well-known hymns. As this is a a service of worship all are welcome.

Concordiamici is a group of friends, of all denominations and none, from many walks of life. They come from all over the north of England and are united by their love of singing sacred music. Each year they sing evensong times in different locations. In recent years they have sung Evensong at Bradford, Blackburn, Manchester, Wakefield, Liverpool, Chester, Derby Sheffield and St Asaph Cathedrals; Beverley ,Dewsbury, Doncaster, Halifax and Leeds Minsters; Bridlington and Lancaster Priories; Selby Abbey, Beamish Open Air Museum, St Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church Hull and numerous parish churches large and small in Derbyshire, Lancashire, North, East and West Yorkshire. This year in addition to Kirby Malham they will be singing in St John's Menston, Newcastle Cathedral and St John the Baptist Knaresborough Dr Blezzard holds music degrees from Leeds University and was Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Liverpool until her retirement and return to live in her native Yorkshire. She is author and editor of several books, articles and editions of choral music for publishers including Oxford University Press and Faber Music, and has given numerous research papers, addresses and choral workshops for various institutions.

From earliest times, Christians gathered at regular hours during each day and night to respond to God's word with praise on behalf of all creation and with intercession for the salvation of the world. By the fourth century, if not earlier, morning and evening had emerged as the pre-eminent hours for the offering of this sacrifice of praise.

Over the course of time regular daily prayer became more and more the practice of the clergy and members of religious orders alone, with the rest of the people of God participating chiefly on Sundays and festivals.

From the 16th Century in the Church of England (and its sister churches in the Anglican Communion worldwide) there has been a prescribed format for Evening Prayer, the classic format being that set out in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer which, together with more modern forms of the service, is still in common use 360 years later.