Music

Great churches provide extraordinary music events for their large and varied congregations and St Mary’s Cathedral delivers a truly world class church music experience.

St Mary’s Cathedral Choir has a history dating back to 1818 and is the only Catholic Cathedral in the southern hemisphere with an on-site choir school. There are seven weekend services with music, with the Choir providing music at Vespers and Mass in the Cathedral every day except Fridays during term-time, making it one of only two Cathedral choirs in the world to continue such a rigorous music schedule.

For lovers of organ music and historic organs, the Cathedral currently has four organs: the Whitehouse (1942), Sharp (1960), Bellsham (1985) and the Letourneau (1999).

Thomas Wilson, Director of Music at St Mary’s Cathedral says that it is his task to ensure that all the music heard inside the Cathedral, especially the liturgical music during services and also music heard on other occasions, is as beautiful as possible to match the surroundings and the importance of the Cathedral as a building.