Music at Edgbaston Old Church
Organist
We are delighted to announce the appointment of our new organist, David Griffiths MA FRCO DPSE. David is an outstanding musician, and a long-standing friend of our church, so it is wonderful to have him as a member of our regular team.
The Choir
Another new appointment that has been the source of great delight to us all has been that of Mary Cohen as our new Choir Director. As many of you will know already, Mary is a professional musician with an international reputation as a music educator and composer (with over sixty books currently in print!).
Choir practices are held every Thursday evening from 6.00 – 7.15 pm, and include vocal training and an introduction to basic musicianship skills, as well as preparing hymns and anthems for our regular worship. New members are always welcome – whether you are an experienced singer, or would simply like to have a go! Indeed, one very positive new development has been the opening up of choir practices to non-choir members within our congregation: the quality of our congregational singing has already shown a marked improvement as a result. Do please come along if you are interested, or contact Mary (via the Vicar on our ‘Contacts’ page) if you would like to know more.
Musical Activities
The musical life of the parish is also enhanced by a regular series of musical events and concerts. These include work with an exciting project for young string players called SQFS (‘String Quartets from Scratch’), which our new Choir Director, Mary Cohen, has run since the early 1990s. Amongst other activities, the young members of SQFS provide the music for our annual Crib Service on Christmas Eve. Mary also organises occasional musical and choral contributions from young members of the congregation for Parish Communion services.
For the past three years we have hosted superb and memorable concerts by the Arnold Singers of Rugby School, in support of our Organ Restoration Appeal and the charity Future Hope.
For details of other forthcoming musical events, please see our News and Events page.