Music at St Mary’s

Led by our Director of Music- Adam Wills Begley and Organist- Andrew Lenon, the musical life at St Mary’s is particularly vibrant and diverse and is centered around our wonderful Choir and our exciting St Mary’s Choristers programme.

St Mary’s Choir

The Choir sings at the 9:30am Eucharist each week and has at its heart our 6:30pm Choral Evensong service, sung every week throughout the year (apart from during August and the Sundays following Christmas and Easter). Additionally the Choir sings Cathedral services several times a year (Ripon, St Paul’s and Durham Cathedrals and Westminster Abbey in 2022/3) and regularly tours abroad, most recently to Toulouse.

Drawn from the congregation and beyond, the Choir includes professional musicians and enthusiastic amateur singers of all ages and from all walks of life, who share a vision for performing to an high standard and serving the congregation in worship. We are committed to offering the best music of all eras in worship, from the Renaissance masters such as Tallis, Byrd or Palestrina through to cutting-edge choral composers of today such as James MacMillan, Cecilia McDowall and Jonathan Dove. Commitment to new music resulted in our recent, thrilling ‘Seven Last Words’ project, commissioning new pieces from different composers including Esther Bersweden, Owain Park and Ken Burton for a special Service of Meditation on Palm Sunday 2022.

Joining the Choir

If you enjoy singing and would like to explore joining the St Mary’s Choir, we would love to chat with you. Contact the Director of Music for an informal conversation.

You do not need to be a professional, or trained singer to join. Reading music is necessary as we sometimes need to learn complex music quite quickly, but apart from that if you can hold a tune well, have a heart for music in worship, and enjoy being part of a friendly, highly sociably-minded team then it could be for you. The Choir rehearses on Friday evenings from 7:45-9:15pm followed, more often than not, by a trip to one of the local pubs.

Choristers from Year 3

Fridays from 6pm; 7pm finish for Juniors, 7.30pm for seniors. Includes a breaktime & a biscuit! Please note from September 2024 Juniors 6.30-7.30pm and Seniors 6.30-8pm this enables the Seniors to sing with St Mary’s Choir 7.30-8pm.

The St Mary’s Choristers rehearse on Fridays at 6pm, experiencing the joy of singing with a group, as well gaining grounding in musical theory and vocal technique. One-to-one theory lessons are offered to Choristers during rehearsals. Our Junior Choristers (7-10yrs) participate in monthly Sunday 9.30am & 11.15am services, as well as singing in various special festivals and events throughout the year. Senior Choristers (10yrs+) rehearse for an additional half hour on Fridays and sing with the Juniors in Sunday services, with the addition of a termly Choral Evensong with the adult choir.

Choral Evensong

Whilst it is an ancient service, Choral Evensong is as relevant as ever to contemporary culture. Given our frenetic high-stress lives, perhaps this ‘oasis of peace’ is more important than ever before: glorious music, sung skillfully by the choir combines with prayers and scripture, giving us the space to linger in the presence of God before the start of each new week. If you have never experienced Choral Evensong, do drop in on a Sunday evening at 6:30pm and experience true refreshment!

Choral Scholarships

Our Choral and Organ Scholarship scheme, started in 2015, is an excellent way of supporting and nurturing young singers and musicians from local schools, colleges and conservatoires. The programme is currently being redeveloped and will be relaunched in September 2023. If you are an aspiring organist or singer, and would like to explore the scheme, we’d love to speak with you. Please contact Mark Underwood.