Music at St. Johns
‘Music at St. Johns’ is the organisational and fundraising arm of our Musical life at St. Johns. Music at St. Johns has 3 core values at its heart; ‘excellence in worship’, ‘community engagement’ and ‘encouraging young musicians.’ These core values underpin everything that we do; every service, every concert, is concerned to worship God, engage with our community, and support young musicianship, especially in our local area.
Music at St. Johns hosts a musical event or concert regularly throughout the year. Some of these events feature the St. Johns Church Choir and St. Johns Singers, as well as a smaller Chamber Choir, providing excellent musical worship at important dates throughout the Christian year. These Choral Highlights are listed below. We also work closely with local choirs and performers, hosting a variety of concerts showcasing musical talent from our local community, as well as with performers from across the country and the world, providing opportunities for our community to come together to enjoy exceptional musical talent from further afield.
Our fundraising goal at Music at St. Johns is aiming to raise the funds to establish a children and young person’s choir, running out of St. Johns Church. Our vision is to establish a choir which connects with and runs out of local schools, encourages musicianship amongst the children of our town, and which contributes to the excellent musical worship at St. Johns.
At every event we hold, we will be offering an opportunity to engage with this exciting project, bringing musical excellence to the children and young people of Loughton, and encouraging the excellent choral tradition which our town has historically been known for.
If you have any questions, get in touch with our Parish Operations Manager or Virgil Parenzee, our Director of Music vparenzee@hotmail.com
Venue for Concerts and Recording
Close to London and its transport links, but surrounded by quiet, our church building has become a well-booked venue for concerts and music recording by all sorts of artists, choirs, ensembles, and groups. Get in touch with our Parish Office to consider booking St John's for your musical projects.
Upcoming Choral Highlights (2024/5):
24th November 2024, 9:30am (Christ the King): Byrd, Mass for Three Voices and Pitoni, Cantate Domino
1st December 2024, 6pm (Advent Procession): Palestrina, Gibbons, Wood, Ravenscroft, Holst, Lehman
21st December 2024, 7pm (A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols): Martin, Schweizer, Forbes L'Estrange, Rutter, and more.
24th December 2024 (Christmas Midnight Mass)
19th January 2025, 6pm (Choral Evensong for Week of Christian Unity): Brewer, Forbes L'Estrange, Courtney
2nd February 2025, 9:30am (Candlemas): MacMillan
9th March 2025, 9:30am (First Sunday in Lent): Byrd and Lent Prose
6th April 2025, 9:30am (Passion Sunday): Faure, Saint-Saens
13th April 2025, 6pm (A Service for Holy Week) TBC
18th April 2025, 2pm (An Hour By The Cross, Good Friday) TBC
20th April 2025, 9:30am (Easter Day): Thorne, MacMillan, Handel
29th May 2025, 9:30am (Ascension): Mozart, Finzi
22nd June 2025, 10am (Patronal Festival of St John): Thorne, Saint-Saens, Parry
6th July 2025, 6pm (Thanksgiving Choral Evensong): J Forbes, Rutter, Haydn