‘Sacred Harmony’ from Northern Ireland
The Christian TV Broadcaster TBNUK has recently filmed in Northern Ireland and the resulting programmes will feature some familiar faces and locations. Former Dean of Belfast, the Very Revd John Mann, is among the presenters and the first programme on 15 November will include an interview with the Dean of Down, the Very Revd Henry Hull.
Five half–hour programmes under TBNUK’s Sacred Harmony series of broadcasts, which highlights Christian music through the centuries, will be aired during November and December. These can be found on Freeview Channel 66, Sky Channel 582 or online at TBNUK.
The lead presenter is Simon Lole (above left), former Director of Music at Salisbury Cathedral, and a regular contributor to BBC Songs of Praise.
Simon conducts a choir of local singers, the Ulster Consort, in a variety of Christian music styles. All the choir pieces were recorded in St Molua’s Church, Stormont.
Dean Mann, who earlier this year retired having been team rector of the Parish of Swanage with Studland in the South of England after leaving St Anne’s Cathedral in 2017, appears chatting with Simon and other participants, and contributing a meditation at the end of each programme.
The five programmes are individually themed. The first is on St Patrick and features an interview with Dean Henry Hull at Down Cathedral, as well as Simon and John chatting at Saul Church. It includes some familiar music and footage of the beautiful shores of Strangford Lough. It will be broadcast on Tuesday November 15 at 10.00pm and repeated on Wednesday November 16 at 5.30pm and Sunday November 20 at 12.30pm.
The programmes continue, with Belfast featured the following week before Simon and John visit Corrymeela for a programme on Reconciliation. Derry/Londonderry is the setting for their programme on Hope the Future, when the presenters meet Bishop Andrew Forster and visit iconic places in the city. The fifth programme leads into Advent and Christmas.
All the programmes will be available on catch up, and while the programmes are geared to a largely UK mainland audience, they should be very enjoyable as the scenery of Northern Ireland is shown in all its beauty, and a wide range of our Christian music is explored.