On Saturday evening, Maria and Adam hosted their first congregation to celebrate their new book. The church near Stroud has been in the hands of Retrouvius for 5 years, undertaking a thoughtful restoration by the design team. Friends, writers and contributors joined from nearby, and after a decade, the building once again welcomed a choir.

When Retrouvius was founded more than 30 years ago, one of the building types widely demolished was churches. Buildings once at the centre of community were falling into dereliction, consequently yielding huge amounts of joinery and timbers for Adam and Maria to salvage. Even at one point a whole organ and its pipes. “Re-salvation” is what Adam calls the project, a fitting name for this historic building. The Structure is comprised of two parts, the Victorian Sunday School and the Georgian Baptist Church. It only felt right that this building had its own baptism, a baptism by choir. Renovations and conservations are physically quite brutal, even if nothing is demolished or discarded, the structure undergoes serious change. This church has had a change in service, quite literally, and this evening was about honouring this process.

Maria’s choice of music was the Accapellies Choir, led by Eleanor Holliday, with the power of 30 voices. During the middle of the evening we gathered into the nave, the central church space. After a few words from Maria, it was suggested we close our eyes. The vocals started in the gallery above, filling the atrium with harmony. As the music shifted between songs, the choir merged into the space, moving downstairs and circling around the listeners. This is where Eleanor’s dynamic polyphonic teachings worked their magic, not only did the sound penetrate the open space, but also the stone, plaster and the bodies inside. It was a truly sensational experience.

“My choirs are challenging, healing and immersive. I teach polyphonic world music.”

-Eleanor Holliday

Thank you to the Acapellies Choir and those that joined us in Stroud