Starting on 31st July, the Summer Recital Series at St Mary’s Battersea runs every Sunday afternoon at 3pm and is free to attend. This year’s programme includes a variety of music for voice, piano and organ, and refreshments are served afterwards. There will be a retiring collection in aid of the music at St Mary’s.
Choral Music
The choir of St Mary’s is a voluntary choir, augmented by a team of 4 paid choral scholars. The choir has an extensive repertoire ranging from early Renaissance to the present day. A typical Sunday Eucharist will usually consist of two anthems, a psalm sung to Anglican chant, hymns and a congregational mass setting. Choral Evensongs follow the Book of Common Prayer with sung canticles, psalms and anthem. Recent settings have included Stanford in G, Jackson Truro Service and Howells Collegium Regale. Concert repertoire has included Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem, Dieterich Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu nostri and Part 2 of Handel’s Messiah. The choir occasionally commissions a new piece of work, including composers like the late Simon Bainbridge, and the most recent a Jazz Mass by choral scholar Hugo Jennings.
The most recent music list can be viewed here: Music list June-July 2022.
Music making at St Mary’s is diverse, enjoyable and fulfilling, and the choir always welcomes new recruits. There’s no audition, but some experience of reading music is helpful. Enquiries to the Director of Music: [email protected].
Organ & Choral Scholarships
St Mary’s is pleased to offer an organ scholarship and four choral scholarships each academic year. These positions offer undergraduate and postgraduate students and singers the opportunity to explore new repertoire, improve their technique and broaden their musicianship.
We are currently seeking one soprano and one tenor choral scholar to start in September 2022. For more details please see: SMB – CHORAL Scholarships 2022-23.
Recital Programme
The Director of Music programmes two series of recitals, one in the winter from January to the beginning of Lent, and the other in the summer weeks, from July to early September. If you are interested in performing a recital or singing at St Mary’s as a choir, please make initial contact with Katy Silverman ([email protected]) who will be able to discuss possible dates and times.
Jazz at St Marys
A recent innovation in 2022 has been a series of weekend Jazz concerts, at which up and coming jazz musicians and established performers play gigs. Further concerts are planned in the autumn, alongside a second performance of Hugo Jennings’ Jazz Mass, which received its first performance in July 2022.
The Organ
A 1991 Saxon Aldred instrument of 2 manuals with 27 stops, the organ of St Mary’s is an incredibly versatile instrument. The organ was refurbished and revoiced in 2020. The specification of the organ can be found here.
Enquiries
Any enquiries, including requests for rehearsal space from professional musicians, should be addressed to the Director of Music.
