Choir

St. Andrew’s has a robed 45-strong mixed choir, with members aged between 7 and 80+.  The choir sings at the two main Sunday services, as well as at festivals and other times during the year.  A choir is provided for most weddings and funerals held at the church.  Through membership of the Diocesan Choral Association, the choir attends the Bath & Wells Diocesan Choral Festival at Wells Cathedral each year, and also sings Evensong at St. Mary Redcliffe in Bristol on an annual basis.

 The choir is affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music (www.rscm.com) and the Junior Choir, currently comprising 20 boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 17, follows the RSCM’s “Voice for Life” training scheme.  The church is also active in attending (and hosting) events for RSCM Somerset Area, and the Portishead & District Choral Association.

Adults practise on Friday evenings from 7.00pm until 8.30pm.

Juniors practise on Friday evenings from 6.15pm until 7.15pm. Junior Choir

Orchestra  In 1977, the suggestion was made that there seemed enough people with musical ability in the church congregation to form a small orchestra to accompany family services once a month. From this early beginning the orchestra developed and grew so that soon it included players with less experience who were helped and encouraged by the others. One of its strengths has always been that it has involved a wide range of ages and abilities while as far as the congregation was concerned it provided a change from the organ and helped to create a different kind of atmosphere.

 Today the orchestra has 24 members and over the 30 years more than 100 hymns have been arranged for them to play.  In addition, we play a variety of music as going out voluntaries including pieces written and/or arranged by our own members. In more recent years, the orchestra has accompanied the annual St George’s Day service as well as the St Andrew’s Day service and on occasions it has taken part in church concerts.

Would you like to know more about joining the orchestra?

Organ

The organ at St. Andrew’s can be found in the south choir aisle of the church, in the area known as the Matthew Chapel.  Built by W.G. Vowles of Bristol, and dedicated in 1884, it is a two manual tracker action pipe organ (though the pedal action is electric) with 14 speaking stops.

 There is a good description, and photographs of the organ, on the Bristol & District Organists’ Association (BDOA) website: bdoa.org.uk while more details are available on the National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR) at http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/

 Since the 1900s there have only been six organists.

Concerts

There are regularly two concerts in the year, one in the spring and the other in the autumn.  For our Spring concert the date is 25^th April 2009.  Apart from these concerts, which raise money for the church and a chosen charity, there are usually other musical events during the year suggested and/or arranged by those who wish to raise money for a specific cause.