Choir & Music at St Michael's Church
Organist & Director of Music
Paul Nash has been involved with church music for many years, either as organist, composer or choral director. As well as liturgical music, he also has a passionate interest in musical theatre, and regularly works as a composer, musical director and accompanist. He holds a PhD in musicology from the University of Bristol, and currently teaches music at TASIS (an international school in Thorpe).
The Church Choir
St Michael's church has a long tradition of choral music sung to a high standard. The mixed four-part choir numbers roughly 20 choristers.
The choir is affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM). Junior choir members follow the RSCM Voice for Life scheme and are awarded a series of different coloured ribbons as their experience and musical ability grows. These can lead to externally examined awards which are also open to any adults who would like to participate.
As part of the church's 500th anniversary celebrations, the choir held a concert covering five centuries of church music. Listen to an excerpt from the concert here.
Choir Services
With the exception of the Third Sunday of the month morning service, the choir sings at the 10:00am and 6:30pm services. In the morning, as well as leading the singing of hymns and the communion setting, a motet is sung. Most months include one Choral Evensong. Listen to part of a Canticle setting here
On Fridays the Junior Choristers practice starts at 6:45pm, with the Senior Choir joining them at 7:30pm. [The Choir timetable can be viewed here]
In addition to the normal Sunday services there are sometimes weddings on Saturdays and other extra services according to the church's calendar. St Michael's is the town centre church and, as such, hosts other occasional services such as the Civic service.
To view the current music list, click here
Choir Visits
Most years we arrange a visit to a Cathedral or Abbey to sing while their choir is away. Recent visits include Bath Abbey in 2007, Bristol Cathedral in 2009 and Southwark Cathedral in 2010. In April 2011 we sang Choral evensong at Portsmouth Cathedral.
The choir at Portsmouth Cathedral.
Joining the Choir
If you are considering joining the choir, we would love to hear from you. Contact the Director of Music directly, or speak to any choir member after a service. While there is no formal audition - you just need to enjoying singing - you might be invited to take an informal voice test after you have settled in. The volume of music is such that, although fluent sight-reading is not essential, being able to learn the music quickly is a great advantage. You should expect to attend most practices and notify in advance of any occasions when you may be unavailable.