York Minster

Extreme Cellists at York Minster

Published Thursday 27th July 2006 by Eleanor Course

Three cellists from Sheffield will be performing on the roof of York Minster, on Thursday 3 August, to raise funds for the charities Shelter and ASPIRE.

Between Monday 24 July and Friday 4 August 2006, Jeremy Dawson, Clare Wallace and James Rees will visit all 42 Anglican Cathedrals in England with the aim of playing on the roof of each.   They will travel over 1900 miles, visit almost every county in England and climb countless stone spiral staircases.

Jeremy (30), a statistician at Aston University, James (26), a teacher at John Taylor High School in Staffordshire, and Clare (46), a teacher at Sheffield High School, formed the trio “The Extreme Cellists” in 2003 in response to a documentary about the “sport” of Extreme Ironing.  They have previously raised £1,800 for a Sheffield primary school’s music fund by playing at six extreme locations in Sheffield and the Peak District, and £2,500 for Sheffield Cathedral Choir by hiking the 45-mile route from Manchester Cathedral to Sheffield Cathedral in a day, playing their cellos as they went.

This year, however, they are attempting a more national venture. Jeremy Dawson says, “We decided to set ourselves quite a challenge this time! As well as being cellists we’re all Cathedral choir singers, so the thought of playing on Cathedral roofs was quite enticing and different. Fortunately all the Cathedrals are all very supportive of our plans – at most, we are able to play on the roof itself, and at the others we are playing at other extreme and interesting locations within the Cathedral. By visiting every Cathedral in England in just 12 days we hope to raise the profile of both ASPIRE and Shelter nationally, and raise a fair amount of money for each, as well as entertaining a few members of the public along the way!”

You will be able to listen to the performance, which will last around 10-15 minutes, by standing at the foot of the Minster’s East End on Thursday 3 August at 13.00. Donations to Shelter and ASPIRE can be made via the cellists’ web site, www.extreme-cello.com, from where further information is also available.