The Choir of Our Lady of Victories
12:00 Noon Mass on Sundays, Holy Days Director of Music and Organist: Timothy Macklin 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. To hear more about concerts, performances and liturgical events, click HERE to join the mailing list for the Grand Organ and Choir of Our Lady of Victories. Timothy Macklin Timothy Macklin has performed across the UK, in the United States, France, Latvia, Denmark, and Germany. He was head chorister of Southwell Minster, a choral scholar at Durham Cathedral, and choral scholar at St John’s College Cambridge—where he read for a Master’s degree at the College and sang for broadcasts, tours to the U.S. and Denmark, for several recordings, as well as singing with the Gentlemen of St. John’s. He went on to sing with many of the professional choirs in London, most frequently St Paul’s Cathedral Choir—with which he performed for the televised BBC service to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday. He also worked during this time as Director of Music at Hill House School in Knightsbridge. As Director of Music and Organist at Our Lady of Victories church in Kensington, he performs as an organ recitalist and directs the professional choir. He initiated and directed the construction of the new French Symphonic Grand Organ in the church, completed in 2022. In January 2022, he directed a BBC Radio 3 Choral Vespers broadcast recording from Our Lady of Victories (to be broadcast for Pentecost 2022), featuring Olivier Latry at the Grand Organ, with organ improvisations based on Gregorian chant. The Grand Organ of Our Lady of Victories The new four-manual instrument is inspired by the French symphonic tradition. We are excited by all that the new instrument brings to our Parish and to musical life in the capital. The 52-stop scheme is inspired by the French symphonic tradition, which found its culmination in the work of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. Click here for more information on the Grand Organ The Choir Organ of Our Lady of Victories The Choir Organ is a small one-manual mechanical action pipe organ of five stops, built by Johnson of Cambridge (1972). It is positioned down on the floor of the Church, to the right of the Sanctuary. |
Family Mass Choir
10:30 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 Sunday morning at 9.30am to 10.05am and to attend the 10.30am Mass each Sunday. If you are interested in joining the Family Mass choir please contact Andrew Parkin ([email protected]) , or the parish office, or see a member of the Choir after Mass on a Sunday. The Community Choir 12.00 noon Mass on the fourth Sundays of each month) The Community Mass Choir sing at the 12.00noon Mass on the fourth Sundays of each month. The Community Mass Choir is always looking for new members. If you are interested in joining in please conatct the choir leader Rosemarie Ritualo at [email protected]. Music Group 6.00 pm 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 before the Eucharistic Celebration just “happened”. The group discussed how it would be good if there was music at the Mass. From this, the 6.30 pm 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 5.00 pm on Sundays for practice before the Mass so please feel free to come along! Enthusiasm is more important than talent! Unfortunately, due to the Covid pandemic at the current time there is no choir. |