Rector: Revd W Edward Jervis |
Director of Music: Malcolm Munro |
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Organist: Richard Axtell |
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St Andrew's Church Choir is currently (August 2012) made up of approximately 20 adults and 12 young people. Occasionally, certain ex-members of the choir and friends augment our numbers. The choir sings mainly music from the Cathedral and Collegiate Church tradition, and during the 1990's performed over 180 anthems, 16 settings of the Evening Service (Evensong) and 9 settings of the Communion Service (Eucharist/Mass). The choir was proud of its high standard at that time, which was reflected in its being invited, from time to time, to sing away from home, notably in week-long Cathedral visits to Worcester 1992 &1994, Ely 1996, and Exeter 1998, and we also sang one Sunday's services at Guildford Cathedral in 1998. Because of several changes in management of the choir, we did not made a full week's residential visit to a cathedral again until 2008, when we returned to Exeter. In the intervening years we sang at Portsmouth and Chicheseter Cathedrals, and we sang one weekend's services at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in August 2003. In 2009 we visited Dublin. We have also taken part in the annual RSCM Festivals at Chichester Cathedral, together with many other choirs from Sussex. The
choir normally sings two services each Sunday (10.00 am
Parish Eucharist or Family Service and 6.00 pm Evensong)
except for two Sundays in August, when we are officially
on holiday. We also have the Sunday after Christmas, the
Sunday after Easter, one Sunday evening (normally the
3rd) per month, and the first Sunday morning in alternate
months free. |
| St Andrew's Parish Church Choir, West Tarring | |
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In addition, the choir sings at a number of weekday festivals. These are: |
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| Ash Wednesday | Date varies | |
| Maundy Thursday | Thursday before Easter | |
| Good Friday | Friday before Easter | |
| Holy Saturday | Saturday before Easter | |
| Ascension | Date varies | |
| Corpus Christi | Date varies | |
| All Souls | 2nd November | |
| St Andrew's Day | 30th November | |
| Christmas Day | 25th December |
As well as the standard services, the Choir sings sequences of music on special occasions, such as Passion Sunday, Whit Sunday and Remembrance Sunday. It also sings three carol services each year:
| Advent Carol Service | 1st Sunday in December | |
| Ceremony of Nine Lessons & Carols | Sunday before Christmas | |
| Epiphany Carol Service | Sunday after Epiphany |
The Choir has also given performances of Palestrina's Stabat Mater, Stainer's Crucifixion, Faure's Requiem, and Handel' s Messiah - Part 1.
The choir is affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM), who provide training schemes for church musicians and singers, and also provide some music supplies. The RSCM was founded in England by Sir Sydney Nicholson in 1927, and is now active around the world, including the USA and Canada. All members of the choir are entitled to participate in the RSCM Voice for Life Awards scheme, consisting of Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards, which were introduced progressively from 2004. The first members to receive the Bronze Award were presented with their medals by the Dean of Chichester at the Cathedral, and are pictured below with the Dean (click on the photo to view a larger version).
Many members of the choir have attained awards in subsequent years, and by July2007 nine members were recipients of the Gold Award. Some of the early recipients of the Gold Award are shown below (click on the photo to view a larger version).
The Junior members of the choir are also able to participate in the Chichester Diocesan Awards Scheme, consisting of the Dean's Award (equivalent to the RSCM Bronze Award) and the Bishop's Award.
Photos of the Exeter Cathedral Visit 04-10/08/2008
Choir Photo Gallery Examples of our music S.Andrew's Psalter Service Sheets
You
can e-mail the webmaster, Mike Smith, at: webmaster@maeers-smith.org.uk
You can e-mail the Director of Music at:
Tarring.Malcolm@gmail.com
AMS 02/09/15