The Choir at Our Lady of Victories sings at the 12:00 Mass as well as for numerous special services throughout the year, during Advent, Christmas, Holy Week and Easter, on Remembrance Sunday and on Marian Feast Days and other Holy Days of Obligation. The Choir also sings for several concerts in the Church each year. The formation of the choir is generally one voice per part, numbering between five and seven singers in total, all of whom are professional singers. This configuration highlights the individual and soloistic qualities of each voice while allowing a blended and expressive overall sound, ideally suited to the generous and resonant acoustic of the building. The core repertoire of the Choir includes Gregorian Chant and the finest polyphonic works in Latin and English, by composers such as William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, Tomás Luis de Victoria and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Works by Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart also feature regularly, as well as more contemporary sacred works by composers such as Maurice Duruflé, Olivier Messiaen, William Walton, John Taverner and James Macmillan. As well as enhancing the Liturgy, the Choir exists to support and encourage the large congregation at Our Lady of Victories in the singing of Responsorial Psalms, Alleluias, Hymns and the various sung congregational aspects of the Mass. Monthly music list: june_music_list.pdf
Family Mass Choir - 10.30am Mass on Sundays
The Family Mass Choir sing each Sunday at the 10:30 Mass. The group have a long established history going back over 25 years. Some of our members have been involved with the music and liturgy at this service since the early days and their continued participation is very much valued.
In more recent times the group has developed and enlarged considerably and now has around 20 members.
The repertoire is mixed although the music is chosen with the congregation in mind. The choir use the Celebration for Everyone hymnal which is an excellent resource although a wide range of additional music is used throughout the year.
The director of this group is Andrew Parkin who has been involved in parish music around the country for over twenty years.
The Family Mass Choir is always looking for new members. We are a very friendly group and the only commitments are a weekly rehearsal on a Thursday evening at 7.00pm till 8.00pm and to attend the 10.30am Mass each Sunday.
If you are interested in joining the choir please contact Andrew Parkin, or the parish office, or see a member of the Choir after Mass on a Sunday.
Contact: andrewparkin6@hotmail.com
Community Choir - 12.00 noon Mass on the second and fourth Sundays of each month)
The Community Mass Choir sing at the 12.00noon Mass on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. The Community Mass Choir is always looking for new members. Just show up on the day!
Music Group - 6.30pm Sundays
During one of the first young adults meetings, it was discussed how dry and bland the Sunday evening Mass was. It was full of young people (teens and those in their 20’s and 30’s) who were keen to meet up and get to know each other but the Eucharistic Celebration just “happened”. The group discussed how it would be good if there was music at the Mass. From this, the 6.30pm music group was born – with only a guitar, recorder and a few singers. We know have a few more singers, trumpet, flute and a tambourine!
We meet at 5.00pm on Sundays for practice before the Mass so please feel free to come along! Enthusiasm is more important than talent!
Contact: IanFarrington80@hotmail.com
The Grand Organ of Our Lady of Victories
Our Grand Organ is undergoing extensive renovation and a complete rebuild throughout 2019. The work is being carried out by the Slovenian firm Skrabl, and is due to be complete in December 2019. The new four-manual instrument will be inspired by the French symphonic tradition. We are excited by all that the new instrument will bring to our Parish and to musical life in the capital. A festival of inauguration will be announced soon, with details of the opening recital series and other special events throughout 2020.
The Choir Organ of Our Lady of Victories
During the rebuilding of our Grand Organ, we are using a small one-manual mechanical action organ by Johnson, which is positioned down on the floor of the Church, to the right of the Sanctuary.