The Choir of St. John the Baptist Sevenoaks
Fr.Robin Ward (Vicar)
Mr John Hendry (Organist & Choirmaster)
Adults 7:30 on Thursdays
Junior Choir 10:00 am on Saturdays And/Or 6:30 on Thursdays
Full Rehearsal 9:20 am on Sundays
The Choir of St Johns is a loyal group of about 20 regular singers supplemented from time to time by our returning university and college students.We are a mixed voice SATB choir singing a motet or anthem every week in the 10:00 am Mass and leading in the singing of responses, psalms and appropriate sentences.
In the tradition of our church are sung services on all the major feast days [All saints, All Souls, Corpus Christi etc.] and the choir supports these also.
We have a traditional carol service and occasional full choral evensongs, with a major musical event on the 24th of June [the Birth of St John the Baptist]. For this, our Patronal Festival, we use a larger scale setting of the mass usually with orchestral support. Repetoire for this has ranged from Byrd to Kodaly, but with Mozart and Haydn well to the fore!
The repertoire of anthems and motets is largely from the British choral tradition from Tallis to Howells [with the occasional very recent piece from the Organist!]
In addition to the full time choir there is a strong and growing junior choir (ages 3-10) who gradually work their way up into the main choir via singing and percussion games, leading on to vocal exercises and then learning hymns and service settings.
On the First of January 2000 the Choir gave the first performance of the Missa Brevis of St. Anne by the organist and Choir master, John Hendry.
Please E-mail us at:sjcchoir@hotmail.com or by filling in this form