The Choir
An introduction to the Old Saint Paul’s Choir, by Director of Music John Kitchen:
So far as we can tell from the archival material available, Old Saint Paul’s has had a choir for most of its life, perhaps from the late 19th century when the congregation moved into the present building.
The members would have been men and boys. Apparently women were sometimes drafted in to swell the ranks, but were obliged to sing from the Memorial Chapel, since they were not permitted to appear in the choir stalls!
Alistair Pow worked hard to build up the choir’s contribution to the liturgy during the 1970s. New music was introduced and recruitment of boys and men was vigorously pursued to great effect. Around this time the choir also became affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music, and we have in the choir vestry a report from 1975 when the choir was ‘inspected’ by an RSCM official. The numbers recorded are 23 boys and 18 men - rather more than we currently boast.
Leslie Shankland was assistant to Alistair Pow from the 1970s onwards, and eventually took over as Director of Music on Easter Day 1980 when Alistair moved on. Les continued to diversify and extend the choral repertoire, and to steadily raise musical standards.
A Mixed Choir
I became Old Saint Paul’s organist in 1988, working alongside Les for 20 years. During our time, the choir evolved in various ways. By the early 1990s it was clear that we could no longer manage to maintain a treble line of boys alone as we had done in the past. Instead, we followed the lead of our own Saint Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh in building up a treble line of boys and girls (up to about the age of 15 or 16).
Among British Cathedrals, Saint Mary’s had been pioneering in having a mixed treble line as early as the 1970s. The arrangement worked well at Old Saint Paul’s for several years; ultimately, however, it proved difficult to recruit sufficient trebles, and the next development was to introduce female sopranos and altos to sustain the musical heritage. We now have an adult choir made of men and women plus a small group of junior choristers who join the adult choir at some services.
In June 2007, Les Shankland resigned because of family commitments, having given more than 30 years of unstinting service to the Church; at that time I took over as Director of Music. With support through the Vestry, I am assisted by Calum Robertson as organ scholar. Calum was educated at The Edinburgh Academy and is currently a second-year student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. His first study instrument is clarinet and second study is organ. He has already been heard to play his clarinet in several services!
Joining the Choir
There is great competition among Edinburgh city-centre churches for student choir members and many churches now offer choral scholarships. Following suit, our vestry has decided to fund four choral scholarships. Our available funded places are all taken at present, but interested singers are welcome to contact the , Dr John Kitchen for further details.
Our junior choristers sing at High Mass with the adult choir on 3 Sundays out of 4. They are trained by a team of members of the adult choir, and follow the Royal School of Church Music’s Voice for Life programme. Places are currently available for children aged 8 years and above to join this lively and committed group of young singers.
