Music at St John’s
The choirs at St John’s provide a core ministry to our church and are integral to its identity. If you attend any Sunday service at St John’s, you will very quickly discover how deeply embedded the choir is in the way we worship God. More recently, we have also started our own junior and children choirs - you can find out more about them below.
The Choir
The adult choir of St John’s comprises 30-35 experienced and committed amateur singers. We perform a large and varied repertoire, from Byrd and Bach to Britten and MacMillan. Highlights of our last year include Bach’s Komm, Jesu, Komm; Duruflé’s Requiem and Parry’s Songs of Farewell. We prepare all that we do at the weekly rehearsal from 7.30-9.00pm on Thursdays.
-
The choir is at the very heart of the three services that take place on Sundays, firstly at 9:30am with Choral Matins. The church and choir are tremendously proud to be one of the few churches in the country to sing this service every week. The 10:30am Choral Eucharist is the mainstay of our Sunday worship, where we are fortunate to have a thriving and supportive congregation. And finally, at 6:00pm Choral Evensong, where we can showcase more challenging repertoire. In addition to this we undertake a number of special services, such as concerts, weddings, memorials and carol services, depending on the time of the liturgical year.
-
Giles has spent all of his life in the world of Classical music, firstly as a chorister at York Minster. He moved on to study music at the University of Oxford, where he was the Organ Scholar at Worcester College. Now based full-time in Edinburgh, he splits his time between conducting choirs at St John’s and the University of St Andrews. He is also a recitalist and award-winning composer.
-
-
We are always interested in meeting keen and committed singers. Please email Giles, the Director of Music, under giles@stjohns-edinburgh.org.uk to get in touch.
The Junior and Youth Choirs
The Junior and Youth Choirs provide high quality musical training for young people aged from 5–18. If your child is aged between 5 and 12 and would like to learn to sing as part of a larger group, and about how music works, then we would love to hear from you. If you are aged between 13 and 18 and love to sing, then please get in touch.
-
The Junior Choir sessions are on Friday afternoons and start with a snack and some juice at 3pm and the run from 3.30pm until 4.30pm. From 3.45pm until 4pm there will be musical games to learn how music works. Our main rehearsal starts at 4pm and runs until 4.30pm.
The Youth Choir rehearsal runs on Friday afternoons from 5pm until 6pm. We rehearse music for Choral Evensong, which we sing once a month at 6pm.
-
Both the Junior and Youth Choirs are led by the renowned Scottish Soprano Susan Hamilton. Susan is deeply involved in teaching voice and choral directing. For over a decade, Susan dedicated herself to training the choristers at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh and served as the solo singing teacher at St. Mary’s Music School. At the Edinburgh Academy, Susan has significantly expanded her student base from just 6 to 48 within a short period. Her expertise has generated remarkable results, with the majority of her students achieving the highest marks in their singing exams.
She was Director of Music at St Mary’s Parish Church, Haddington, and is the locum Director of Music at The Robin Chapel in Edinburgh. Susan has also worked for NYCoS, the Royal School of Church Music, where she was involved in Young Scottish Voices. She also ran a youth choir at St Peter’s Lutton Place in Edinburgh. Whilst still an Artistic Director at the Dunedin Consort, she ran many outreach programmes, including a tour of Harvey Brough’s Requiem in Blue, which concluded with a performance in the Usher Hall with over 500 primary school children together for the final concert.
-
To find out more about our Junior and Youth Choirs, please email music@stjohns-edinburgh.org.uk.