Saint Mary’s Cathedral Choir is a professional choir of based at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney. With a history dating from 1818, the Choir specialises in singing plainchant, Renaissance polyphony by composers such as Palestrina and Victoria, and sacred music by contemporary composers.
The Cathedral holds daily Sung Vespers, and sung Mass Sunday to Thursday, making it one of only two places in the world with this rhythm of daily worship. When its busy liturgical schedule permits, Saint Mary’s Cathedral Choir continues to reach new audiences through recordings, broadcasts, concerts, and tours.
The boys and girls who sing in the upper parts of the Choir are known as the Choristers, and are aged 8–13. St Mary’s is the only Roman Catholic cathedral in Australia with an on-site Choir School where the Choristers are educated. Membership in the Choir offers boys and girls a disciplined musical education which is unparalleled in Australia. The Choristers have appeared in concerts with the Brandenburg Orchestra and the Sydney Youth Orchestra.
In addition to rehearsal and Mass on Sunday mornings, the Choristers rehearse four mornings a week before school, and sing at a rehearsal and Mass on two weekday evenings. Choristers receive individual singing tuition and piano lessons and a fully paid scholarship to Saint Mary’s Cathedral College.
The Lay Clerks are those members of the Cathedral Choir who sing the alto, tenor, and bass parts. The Lay Clerks are all professional singers, some of whom have previously sung with the choirs of King’s College, Cambridge; Westminster Cathedral; Durham Cathedral; Lincoln Cathedral; The Sixteen; and Collegium Vocale, Ghent. Some are current members of The Song Company and Opera Australia Chorus. In addition to their work with the full Choir, the Lay Clerks sing for some occasions as an independent ensemble.
