.....is , apart from the services held in the traditional form, the facet of church life with which I am most involved still being a member of, the Church Choir (after "the break")  -- but to sing Tenor rather than Treble. The choir has reached quite a good standard , having been been greatly strengthened through being joined by the choir of Christ Church following their church's sad closure .  However, in order to maintain and hopefully improve that standard, we could do with more members, of all ages, to swell our ranks.

The Choir performs each Sunday (except during August), singing the 10a.m Choral Eucharist service to settings composed by Patrick Appleford, Dom Gregory Murray and Richard Shephard, as well as the hymns and an anthem and hymn sung during the administration of Holy Communion.

Around once or twice monthly, - and this should be a fixed arrangement - we sing the traditional Evensong service from the Book of Common Prayer; our choral contribution to this is the various responses, Hymns, a Psalm canticles (Magnificat and Nunc dimittis) which, after a few months of being only chanted, are now again being offered in full Choral settings by composers as Moeran, Stainer, Walmisley & and Stanford> Additionally, we always sing an anthem at this service. 

Our status as the main town centre church has always meant that we are called of upon to host a number of special services yearly; these are,  mainly services of commemoration for the Armed forces  - chief among such  being, of course, the Remembrance day services. Sometimes  -- but not always -- the present choir is trusted to provide the music

As the Minster seeks to expand its role in service to the city, there is no doubt that the choir should, and will, increasingly be called upon to play its part and in this knowledge, we invite all who enjoy singing to play a part in the development of the musical ministry of this fine church. And, yes, to serve God through rendering good music is a vocation!) 

WHAT IS THE CHOIRMASTER LOOKING FOR ? :-

Basically, people who like to sing, are able to commit themselves to regular attendance for both practices and services, and particularly for the services at the major festivals, including Easter and Christmas .

They will be enthusiastic and keen to set about learning a wide variety of music. We do not all have exactly the same taste in music and some of us find some of the music more difficult to learn than do others, but we work as a team and find that we can usually help each other to get it right .

The members of the choir at present are a complete mixture; we come from all walks of life and we cover a wide age range , having a good mixture of both young and old(er). We are therefore looking for more of the same, although an increase in schoolchildren would be very welcome as there is some church music which is particularly effective when sung by young voices. There is, in fact, room for all voices, be it Treble, Soprano, Alto (Counter Tenor), Contralto, Tenor, Baritone, Bass. (or even 'Basso Profundo!) .

So, these are the main qualifications and to answer one question which has arisen recently, it is NOT necessarily to be a confirmed (or even baptised) member of the Church of England to join this choir. It is a place for folk who love music and seek to serve God (or even wish to seek Him) through their music.

"COME AND JOIN US !!"

 

 

  THE CHURCH IS  ALSO AGAIN LOOKING FOR A DEPUTY ORGANIST, AS FROM SEPTEMBER TO ASSIST THE CHOIRMASTER IN HIS QUEST TO BUILD UP THE CHOIR AND ITS MUSIC.   ANYONE INTERESTED SHOULD CONTACT THE CHURCH OFFICE, OR THE ORGANIST & CHOIRMASTER HIMSELF:-   

Mr D.B. Cox ,

12 Nilverton Avenue,

Sunderland.

Telephone  0191 - 5226050

 

WHEN YOU JOIN 

- there are no great formalities involved. :- 

            a)    You can ’just roll along’ by coming to one of the practices —  if you arrive before 7p.m. you can introduce yourself to David Cox, the choirmaster, first. After this, you will be invited to sit with other choristers of your voice range .  There are no formal auditions to become a member of the choir, although after a while, there may be a simple voice test to establish your vocal range.

            b)    if you would like some information before committing yourself  (or someone else) have a word with the Choirmaster or, if you wish, one of the Choristers.

If we cannot give you the answer, we will find someone who can !

 

 CHOIR PRACTICE 

 

     This is held in the Choir Vestry (entrance in Church Lane) and starts at 7 p.m. The last twenty minutes or so are sometimes spent rehearsing the following Sunday’s anthem in the Choir stalls in Church. 

    For all of us, this is an evening to be looked forward to, because we are singing a range of music to piano accompaniment in a happy, relaxed atmosphere which makes learning music a great pleasure.  

Most of us have started our choir career with little or no formal knowledge of music, and thus have to learn the hard way  -  by developing a good memory for the music , and a good ear to hear what the rest of the choir are singing.    At first, this can seem quite a formidable task but it does not really take long to ‘get into the swing’ of things.

Times have no doubt changed considerably since I first joined the choir - see News and Views, and beyond, if you want to read of my early recollections - but I hope that within all these changes our aims and purpose are little altered. Others must be the judge of that !

 

   "COME AND JOIN US"

 

It is good, from time to time, to work with other musicians and in recent times, the choir (rather depleted) had the chance to sing, on a couple of occasions, to the accompaniment of a young organist from Middlesbrough, Mark Holt (below), who played for services  and this in the absence of our own excellent Choirmaster, David Cox. 

  On the most recent occasional we had the additional privilege of  enjoying a rehearsal under Mark's knowledgeable tutelage and this stood us in good stead for the service on the following Sunday

 Unfortunately, people with the skill and talent to play the organ and to direct choirs at the same time are few and far between and we must be grateful for the services rendered by folk of such calibre as this.

                                                                  

 

January 2009  Although delighted with the recent influx of new choristers, I remain convinced that the Minster, with its size and position within the City of Sunderland (whose population totals some 283,000 souls, according to a 2005 estimate) should be able to muster a far bigger choir than it manages at present. I remain hopeful that this will, in time, become a church priority

  My most recent experience of a vibrant church choir was on a visit to the church of St Mary, Ross on Wye, a town with a population of fewer than 11,000, but which does great things in maintaining a choir.

I copy, below, a scan that I took of its current leaflet. If you are interested, visit their website at www.rosspcmusic.ik.com