HMC Choir
The choir of HMC is friendly and inclusive. We sing for regular services, every Wednesday in term and at occasional concerts. The choir also provides a choral grace at selected formal dinners.
The chapel tradition, which welcomes all faiths and none, provides opportunities to choose from an increasingly wide range of repertoire, with an especial interest on contemporary music, in close collaboration with the Chaplain.
Rehearsals take place on Fridays during term, including the one in 0 week (5pm-6.30pm) and on Wednesdays (4.30pm - 5.30pm) before the service, which is at 5.45pm – this is followed by formal dinner, which the choir attends. Meals on these occasions are provided free of charge. Loyalty and commitment are encouraged as we build a strong team with a united sense of purpose.
Choral Scholarships
Choral Scholars are appointed at the start of each academic year. They receive a stipend of £300 a term as well as regular singing lessons provided by the Director of Music. There will be opportunities to sing solos in services – and occasional concerts, such as the lunchtime informal concert in 8th week. They provide the main pillars of support for the choir and are expected to attend all rehearsals services, if possible, joining forces with the Director of Music.
Applications can be made via the University's intercollegiate scheme or by contacting the Sanders Director of Music: stephen.taylor@hmc.ox.ac.uk. He will be delighted to answer enquiries at any time.
Organ Scholarships
The Organ Scholar’s duties centre around playing for Wednesday services and Friday rehearsals. At the Wednesday service, the Organ Scholar plays a prelude, interlude and postlude, accompanying the choir in anthems, psalms and hymns. There is an expectation that the Organ Scholar will be involved in other aspects of the college’s musical life and will work with the Director of Music to develop this, occasionally also conducting the choir. There is also a 2-manual pipe organ in the college’s dining hall, and the Organ Scholar is sometimes asked to play this at college dinners and events. Application can be made via the university’s intercollegiate scheme or by contacting the Director of Music (see below). The Organ Scholar receives a stipend of £1,200 per annum as well as four free organ lessons per term, plus free dinners after services and rehearsals.
For further information or expressions of interest, please contact the Sanders Director of Music.
The Director of Music
The Sanders Director of Music, Stephen Taylor, is keen to encourage as many members as possible to be involved with making music in the college, instrumentally as well as vocally. Whilst HMC is at the centre of his music life, Stephen also teaches singing at Brasenose and Wadham colleges, as well as further afield at Radley and Eton Colleges and is the Director of Choral Music at Cothill House. He also teaches students on the Rodolfus Choral Course each summer. Although active as a teacher since student days at Durham University, where he read music and was a choral scholar in the cathedral choir, Stephen has been a member of the choir of Christ Church and New College, where he was employed as an Alto Lay Clerk, for some 33 years. He has performed and recorded extensively, in Australia, Asia, USA and much of Europe, with some of the world's finest consort groups, notably The Tallis Scholars. He is particularly keen to bridge the gap between secular and sacred music and ideology.
