St Mary's Choir

Our dedicated choir sing at the Sunday morning Eucharist and other special services.  They are available to sing at Weddings and join you for your special day (please book this in advance).  

Our Musical Director Dr Caroline Strange will happily assist you in choosing music for the service. 

Choir activities in 2018

On Palm Sunday at the evening service we sang the Requiem by Fauré.  The Requiem is a shortened setting of The Mass for the Dead but with the Dies Irae from the traditional mass replaced with the Pie Jesu and with the addition of In Paradisum from the burial mass.  It contains some of the most beautiful melodies that Fauré composed. The choir sang at four weddings during the year and sang anthems during the signing of the registers. 

In October we participated in the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) Festival at St Albans.  This special Festival Service celebrated the Kingship of Christ. The music was taken from a resource specifally complied to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the RSCM. Singing with a large choir in the Cathedral was a wonderful experience.  Andrew Lucas, Master of the Music at St Albans, who conducted the full rehearsal and the Service, commented very favourably on the choir’s singing, but still kept us striving for improvement!  We learnt a great deal about not only singing the anthems and hymns but also to speak clearly and slowly.

Our thoughts then turned to preparing for Christmas.  We once again sang for the opening of the Christmas Tree Festival on the Friday evening and for the closing service on the Sunday.  We also sang Christmas carols and songs on the Sunday afternoon.  Our theme for our Christmas Tree at the Festival was ‘In the bleak mid-winter’.  We continued this theme for our choice of choir carols at the Carol Service on 16 December.

The choir sang at four weddings during the year and sang anthems during the signing of the registers. 

We rehearse on Thursday evenings from 7:15 – 8pm and Sunday mornings from 10:15 – 10:45.  Members attend when work, family and other commitments permit. If you would like to sing with us or ask the choir to sing for a special event please see the ‘Contact Us’ page for how to get in touch.