CHURCH CHOIR
Our formal church choir sings in harmony at the 10.15am Mass on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month and also provide music for the major liturgical feasts of Christmas and Easter, including Holy Week. Around Christmas, a Carol Service is organised to which the Abingdon Society of Bell Ringers is usually invited. We rehearse in church from approximately 8.00pm to 9.30pm on the Tuesdays preceding the Mass at which we are singing, apart from August when we have a summer break. When preparing music for Christmas and Easter, we have weekly rehearsals.
Most of our hymns are taken from the Laudate Hymnal, but our repertoire also includes motets, classical music and music composed by some of our members. There are no auditions to join the choir, but the ability to sight sing to some degree is essential. We are a friendly group, and occasionally meet socially. New members are most welcome but we need some commitment in terms of attending choir practices and singing at Mass on a regular basis.
FOLK GROUP
The Parish Folk Group normally provides music at the 10:15am Mass on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month, including the special Children’s Masses which takes place the 1st Sunday of the month in term-time. The music played by the group is the most eclectic within the Parish varying from Taizé and traditional hymns (e.g. Thine be the glory), through to modern Catholic Liturgical Music (e.g. by Dan Schutte/John Foley) to more recently composed worship music (e.g. by Robin Mark and Darlene Zschech).
The group membership varies from youngsters playing Grade 1 clarinet, to adults and young people with guitars, flutes and violins. There are no auditions and we are rarely able to have formal practices as most of us have families. For this reason the membership may vary weekly, especially during school holidays! If you’d like to join us, please simply approach us after one of our Masses or fill in the form below. To quote Marty Haugen: “All are welcome”.
PSALMISTS
Representative
Pat Lonergan
In our church, the psalmists are the people who generally sing the psalms at the 10.15am Sunday Masses and special Masses at Christmas, Holy Week and Easter. To join this group, you generally need to be a good and competent singer who is able to sing solo.
