St Michael and All Angels
Helensburgh's Scottish Episcopal Church (part of the Anglican community)
Music at St Michael’s
Choir & Organ
St. Michael’s has a rich musical tradition. The choir sing on a Sunday at the 10.30am Sung Eucharist and 6.30pm Choral Evensong, providing a range of sacred choral works.
St. Michaels fine organ accompanies the choir. The organ was installed in 1883 and built by August Gern, foreman to Aristide Cavaille-Coll, the celebrated French organ builder. Generous donations over the years have enabled various upgrades which have kept the organ in good condition.
We are fortunate to have a rota of six organists but are still seeking a new Director of Music and new choir members, in particular sopranos, altos and children. If you are interested in any of these please contact David Menzies at email: orchidiotnz@gmail.com
The choir rehearses on Sundays at 9.40am and 5.30pm, before the choral services (Regrettably, due present Covid-19 related government guidelines, no singing is allowed during church services until further notice. Therefore, no choir rehearsals are currently held)
St Michael’s is keen to develop its musical provision for the wider community and welcomes musicians from all backgrounds to perform here. We have professional musicians in our congregation who perform on an ad hoc basis. Our most recent concert was a string quartet by Janina & Mark Duncan, formerly of the Scottish National Orchestra, which was outstanding!
Our aim is to showcase/promote locally based musicians and artists, both sacred and secular in St. Michaels. If you are looking for a beautiful venue with great acoustics, please contact : David Menzies at email orchidiotnz @ gmail.com
Our Church Organ Has A ‘Service’ – December 2020
The organ at St Michael was serviced recently by the ‘Durham boys. Here Andrew and Daniel are seen cleaning section of the organ.
Work on Church Organ – March 2021
Message from David:
‘The installation of the new rack boards and completed complement of pipes for the mixture stop looked to be going well when I left Charlotte and young Andrew working this afternoon. He was working last week at York Minster so it was a relief to come to a smaller place.’
‘Some of the missing pipes were replaced with redundant examples from Westminster Abbey, which is a good thought. I attach 3 photos which may be useful as a record. A mixture stop uses 3 pipes for every note so we have 183 now, which is a lot more than before.‘
