Music

Choir

St Mary’s has a strong choral tradition. We currently have approximately 15 full-time members in our four-part choir, many of them experienced singers, who sing services every Sunday, except in the school holidays.

It comprises:

Choristers (children aged up to the end of school Year 8 or 9)

Song Clerks (Adult singers and children aged school Year 10 and upwards)

The Choir sings at the Sunday morning Eucharist.

On second Sunday, Choral Evensong [BCP] is sung.

On the fourth Sunday, Choral Evening Prayer [Common Worship] is sung by a Voluntary Ensemble of Song Clerks

Our members are very committed.

We do not see ourselves as separate from the congregation but as integral members of it. Quite a few of us have other responsibilities in the Parish as well.

The Christian faith underpins everything we do.

We encourage children into Choir as well as adults and there is a structured programme of development for them as singers devised by qualified teachers from within Choir itself. Teaching about the Christian Faith, particularly with reference to the content of the weekly services, is integrated into the course.

All child-protection and safeguarding requirements are in place.

Each year, we sing in the cathedral at the Parish’s Patronal Festival Service which starts in St Mary Magdalene’s, moves in procession to the cathedral for Evensong and then back again to St Mary Magdalene’s in conclusion. This is a major occasion in the life of the Parish. (The original parish church foundations are under the west end of the cathedral and for over two hundred years parishioners worshipped at the west end prior to a new building being sited where it stands today)

Terms are as follows (approximately):

  1. September to Christmas Day
  2. Mid-January to Easter Day
  3. Mid-April to the Sunday nearest to St Mary Magdalene’s Day (July 22nd)

Weekly practice night is held currently in the church on Monday (7:00 – 8:15 pm) after which we tend to socialise.

There are breaks during the state school holidays.


The pattern for a Sunday is:

  • Morning:
    • Practice from 10:00 am, with a brief break before robing
    • Service at 11:00 am (finishing a little after 12:00 noon)
  • Evening(on the second and fourth Sunday):
    • Practice from 5:00 pm, with a brief break before robing
    • Service at 6:00 pm (finishing at approximately 6.40 pm)
Day in MonthPracticeServiceGroup
1st Sun.10:00 am11:00 am Choral EucharistFull Choir
2nd Sun.10:00 am
5:00 pm
11:00 am Choral Eucharist
6.00 pm Choral Evensong
Full Choir
Full Choir
3rd Sun.10:00 am11:00 am Choral EucharistFull Choir
4th Sun.10:00 am
5:00 pm
11:00 am Choral Eucharist
6:00 pm Choral Evening Prayer
Full Choir
Voluntary Ensemble.
5th Sun.10:00 am11:00 am Choral EucharistFull Choir

New members are always welcome.

If you are interested in joining the choir, come along on a Sunday or to Choir Practice (Monday at 7:00 pm in church).

We look for a good standard of reading music

We look particularly for keenness, commitment and enthusiasm.

The Organist and Master of the Choir is Christopher Brook

He has served at St Mary Magdalene’s since 1992.