THIRTY members of York Musical Society set off today to Germany, where they will join their friends in the Munster Philharmonic Choir for tonight’s first rehearsal of Elgar’s The Dream Of Gerontius at the late hour of 11pm. Two performances will follow this weekend.

A link between the two choirs was established in 1993 when they united in Munster Cathedral on October 10 to mark its bombing by the allied forces in 1943. The work performed on that commemorative day was Dvorak’s Requiem and the concert began at exactly 3.03pm, 50 years to the minute from the cathedral’s destruction.

This act of reconciliation, in which the bombing of Coventry was remembered too, forged lasting friendships between the two choirs and a number of exchange visits have ensued.

Elgar’s work will be performed tomorrow in Munster Cathedral and on Sunday in the small town of St Dionysius Rheine. The YMS members will be accompanied by regular conductor Philip Moore and by several supporting relatives.

Next summer, the society will welcome the choir to York for a reciprocal performance of The Dream Of Gerontius in the Minster.

York Musical Society’s next concert in York will be a 7.30pm performance of Handel’s Samson in the Minster on June 20, conducted by David Pipe, the Minster’s new assistant to the director of music. Soloists will be soprano Viki Hart, mezzo-soprano Alexandra Gibson, tenor Jason Darnell and bass James Arthur. Box office: 01904 623568 or online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk