St Mary's Music News - October 2023

On 7 July we were delighted to welcome 4 new children to sing in the morning service, each wearing a smart new St Mary’s Junior Choir polo shirt. It is always impressive to see them adapting to their new “front of house” roles, and this time they had to sing a motet in Latin, which must have been especially challenging. The service was followed by a concert given by more established members of the Junior Choir to an enthusiastic audience of friends and family.

Concerts were indeed a feature of the summer. The SMMA’s well-established lunchtime concert series raised in the region of £2000 after expenses, and there is a waiting list of performers who were unable to find a slot earlier this year, which is very good news for the future. Watch this space to find out when the next series begins, whether as morning coffee or lunchtime events. In addition, Anna Lapwood’s organ concert raised £1,500.

After all the hard work put in by the choir, the brass group and behind the scenes, the holidays started with a party kindly hosted by Jim and Siong Siong. We were able to sit in their garden and enjoy their hospitality in the sunshine, just before summer apparently disappeared for the year.

Moving on to current events, Ziyi Wang, a student at SWCHS, has just started her term as the third Michael Swindlehurst Organ Scholar. We hope that she will enjoy her scholarship as much as the 2 previous holders. The scholarship was established in memory of Rev’d Canon Michael Swindlehurst, a very committed supporter of music at St Mary’s, who died in 2017. The training Ziyi will receive is not just in organ playing, but also in many other aspects of life as a young church musician, for example learning how to conduct the choir.

Of course, there is always preparation to be done for the future, so at the last rehearsal in July we were also looking ahead at music for the autumn and beyond, including motets, psalms and even a Christmas carol, albeit adapted for the Patronal Festival on 10 September! As this is the same day as Festal Evensong, the choir is happy to be back and busy again.

Meanwhile, the Choral Scholars are rehearsing for their annual concert. This is always fun, and showcases their musical talents beyond the formal singing in church services. More on this in the next newsletter.

Ottilie Lefever