Music at St. Etheldreda’s
From a wealth of choral music in our weekly services, festivals and weddings, to choral and orchestral concerts and more informal concerts from some of our choir and congregation, music is alive and thriving at St. Etheldreda’s.
Although 2020 was challenging for music in churches, we look forward with renewed optimism to the opportunities of the coming year.
We have two choirs at St. Etheldreda's - an adult choir and a junior choir as well as many talented instrumentalists
who occasionally play at services and concerts in the church.
UPDATE ON SINGING IN CHURCH DUE TO COVID-19 SAFETY RESTRICTIONS MARCH 2021
At the moment there is no congregational singing allowed in church. However, a small group of socially-distanced members of the choir are permitted to sing at services.
Junior Choir
The Junior Choir normally meets on Wednesdays during term time at St. Etheldreda’s. The choristers are taught how to sing well together and use their voices correctly to achieve a good quality sound. They receive basic musical training and vocal coaching. There is also the opportunity to train for the RSCM (Royal School of Church Music) award scheme, and eventually become a Dean’s or Bishop’s Chorister.
The Junior Choir is sometimes requested to sing at weddings, for which each chorister receives a small payment based on their experience and commitment. We sing at family services at St. Etheldreda’s on the third Sunday of each month (Government COVID rules permitting) as well as other special services and events. We have made recordings of several anthems which we regularly sing at weddings:
Choral Scholarships
In 2017, after a generous response from the congregation and local community, we established a Choral Scholarship Fund which supports up to four young choristers each year. The fund supports individually selected choristers with an award of £200 per annum, to be put towards a musical enterprise of his or her choosing. It also provides further training and workshops for all the young people in the Junior Choir so that we can raise standards and support choral development and team work.
 Choral scholarship auditions are normally held at St. Etheldreda’s in July for choristers who are RSCM dark blue award or above level and will be 12-18 years of age in the school year September - August. In 2020 we did not hold auditions due to COVID-19 and have extended the appointment of our four choral scholars into the current academic year: Cheryl Jeyakumar is awarded the Garland Choral Scholarship (donated by Judy Bird in memory of her sister), Evie Harding, the Snowdon Choral Scholarship, (donated by the Snowdon family in memory of John Snowdon), Sophie Garwood, the Stratton Choral Scholarship, (donated by Chris Stratton in memory of his father) and Emmanuel Nehme, the Salisbury Choral Scholarship (donated by the Lord Salisbury and his family).
We have also awarded a two-year internship to Catriona Stewart to assist in her training as a Choral Director. All choristers receive RSCM training through funds provided by the congregation and community at St. Etheldreda's.
We would like to thank everyone who has donated to our fund to inspire, encourage and support our young choristers and organists and secure the future of music in our services at St. Etheldreda’s for generations to come.
Here we are singing with St. Albans Cathedral Choir in a concert at St. Etheldreda's in February 2020, sponsored by the Cathedral Music Trust.
As well as singing, we have lots of fun together. Last sumer we enjoyed a picnic and team raft-building afternoon at Stanborough Lakes, as well as a training day with team games at St. Mary's, North Mymms.
Our current Head Chorister is Cheryl Jeyakumar and the deputies are Evie Harding and Emmanuel Nehme.
Adult Choir
Our adult choir at St. Etheldreda's normally rehearses on Wednesdays, and sings at the Eucharist each Sunday and occasional Choral Evensongs and other special services.The repertoire ranges from traditional Tudor and Renaissance choral music to contemporary works by Archer, Rutter and Chilcott. The choir occasionally sings elsewhere and in 2015 sang two special 1662 prayer book services in the chapel at Hatfield House.
Listen to St Etheldreda's Choir
| This Is The Truth Sent From Above |
Vaughan Williams |
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| Pie Jesu |
Fauré |
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| Ave Maria |
Arcadelt |
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| In The Bleak Mid-Winter |
Hymn |
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| This Joyful Eastertide |
Solo |
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| We Are Called |
Junior Choir |
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Information about the organ at St. Etheldreda's can be found here: The organ at St. Etheldreda's
If you are interested in singing with one of our choirs, or know someone who would like to, we would love to hear from you. Send us a message
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