The Senior Choir

Who are we?

We are a mixed ability group of people who like singing, and together we lead the Sunday worship at St James' on most Sunday mornings at 10:30am, and prepare special music for the significant Feasts which occur throughout the Church's year. Although we are the Senior Choir, there are no age requirements or restrictions; the title 'senior' merely identifies us as separate from the Youth Choir. Young people are especially welcome.

Our Organist and Choirmaster is Matthew Smallwood. We are looking to recruit new members to the senior choir, come along on a Tuesday at 6.00pm to meet Matthew and get to know the choir.

Who can join?

Anyone who would like to sing - you don't necessarily need to have any experience or read music (although these things are an advantage naturally). More important is a willingness to learn, and a good sense of humour (this will develop very quickly once you join us!) There are 22 members at present, singing Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Bass. Perhaps just a third read music, and come with some experience. You can come along to observe practice, or have a go, on a Tuesday evening (18.15-19.30)  without any obligation.  Although there is no formal 'audition', acceptance into the choir is at the discretion of the Choirmaster.

Our Aims

Our number one aim is to 'sing with the spirit and with understanding to enhance the worship of God in our church'.

We also seek to constantly learn and improve our musical and spiritual understanding.

Last, but certainly not least, we are a community, we enjoy our time together, and we are like a large family.

What sort of things do we do?

You'd be surprised! Our main repertoire is drawn from the wealth of standard church music, crossing all centuries and styles. We try to sing lots of different styles, and the choice of music is governed by the time of year.

Music by: Bach, Mozart, Handel; Rutter, Chilcott, Kendrick; world music and gospel.

We also sing some secular music (that means not churchy!) - about once every three years the Junior and Senior Choirs put on a joint concert. This allows us to explore some non-church music. Our recent concert included 'The Sound of Music', 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', and even 'Bohemian Rhapsody'!!

at else do we do?

We sometimes take our singing out and about. At Christmas time we sing carols at local Care homes, and the local pubs. We make occasional visits to St Peter's to sing (especially around St Peter's Day). We take part with other singers in the annual Choral Festival at Coventry Cathedral, and events organised by the Royal School of Church Music