MUSIC AT ST MARK'S
THE CHURCH CHOIRS
There are choirs for people of all ages at St Mark’s. They offer children and adults a great opportunity to develop skills in choral music and in performance, and have for many people over many years been a stepping stone to more advanced music making. Belonging to a choir and singing regularly brings emotional, physical and intellectual benefits. It’s something for everyone that’s good for everyone.
Members of St Mark’s adult choir perform on Palm Sunday
The adult choir at St Mark’s meets on Tuesday evenings (19:30 - 20:30) to practice and sings at the Sunday morning service each week.
If you would like to find out more about the choirs or would like to enquire about joining one of them, please contact the Director of Music at St Mark’s, Simon Hiller.
The children’s choir is divided into two groups:
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Junior Choir (school years 3-7)
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Student Choir (school years 8+)
The junior choir meets on Tuesdays from 17:00 to 18:00 during term time. The student choir also meets on Tuesdays between 19:00 and 20:00, their practice overlapping with the adult choir rehearsal.
Both the junior and the student choirs join the adult choir once a month to perform at the Sunday morning service.
The children’s choirs and adult choir are open to all. There are no auditions and there is no charge.
The choir is affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM). We use the RSCM Voice for Life scheme as the basis of our chorister development programme.
Choir parents and the adult choir each meet informally at least once a term. These occasions give everyone the chance to express views and opinions and to contribute to the ongoing development of the music programme. They are also used to plan social and other special events.
Those events include an annual residential weekend - usually near the start of the autumn term - at the Othona community at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex.
We follow the national legal and procedural framework for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, and Church of England policy and practice.
Medallions worn by choristers who have received the RSCM Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards.
THE ORGAN AT ST MARK’S
A history of the organ at St Mark’s and details of its specification can be found here in an article that was first published in the journal The Organ in 1976.
Organ pipes at the Church of St Mark with St Margaret, Plumstead.
PLUMSTEAD CHAMBER CHOIR
The Church of St Mark with St Margaret is proud to host Plumstead Chamber Choir rehearsals and especially pleased to welcome the singers to perform in our church building.
Plumstead Chamber Choir, directed by Simon Hiller, was formed at the end of 2016 with a view to giving singers in this part of SE London a chance to perform to a high standard and fill a long standing gap in the local musical landscape. It presently has 20 members and has over the last two years put on a series of short - one hour - concerts all of which have attracted large and appreciative audiences. The Choir’s repertoire ranges from early music to 20th century and contemporary works.
The choir meets to rehearse on Wednesdays (19:30 to 21:30) ahead of each performance. Please get in touch with Simon Hiller if you would like to enquire about membership.
Plumstead Chamber Choir is on Facebook.
NEW GLORIANA CHOIR
The New Gloriana Choir (NGC) is an occasional choir that makes three or four singing visits a year to Cathedrals and other major churches in England.
It began life as an off shoot of the church choir at St Mark’s but is now a free standing group. Membership is by invitation. To find out more, please contact Simon Hiller.
NGC takes its name from the Gloriana Choir – a Plumstead based chamber choir that was founded in 1953. You can read a history of the Gloriana Choir here. You can also follow NGC on Facebook.