Richard Bloomfield, a chorister in the Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Dublin organised a performance of Thomas Tallis’ forty-part motet, Spem in Alium, for his birthday. ‘I gathered together around fifty-five friends,’ he said. ‘This group has never performed together before, and we only had a few minutes of preparation before the performance. But under the expert direction of conductor Judith Gannon, the singers from Christ Church Cathedral, Mornington Singers, St Patrick’s Cathedral, and numerous other places created an amazing sound!’