The Chapel Choir

The Chapel Choir with St Luke’s Chamber Choir, after Choral Evensong, Annapolis Royal, April 2024.

The King’s Chapel Choir is celebrated throughout the Maritimes, and known across Canada for its professional-level choral singing in services and concerts. It maintains one of the most prestigious college liturgical choral programs in Canada - on a par with the chapel choirs of Oxford and Cambridge. Members of the Chapel Choir perform liturgical music by major composers of the Western and Orthodox Christian traditions, including choral Masses, chants, anthems, and motets. While following the Anglican services of the Book of Common Prayer, much of the repertoire is shared with the Lutheran and Roman Catholic Churches, and other branches of Christianity. Chapel Choir members also have opportunities to tour locally and further afield, and to perform concerts.

Membership is open by annual audition to King’s and Dalhousie students of any faith or none - and they need not be music students. The volunteer student membership is supplemented by 4 paid, early-professional Section Leads. As an SATB choir, we strive to keep a good balance between voice parts, to a maximum total number of 18 singers. Ideally, this means that there are 6 sopranos, 4 altos, 4 tenors, and 4 basses, although in practice, these numbers may vary from one season to the next.
The Chapel Choir is directed by Dr. Neil Cockburn (Director of Chapel Music).

The repertoire that the Chapel Choir rehearsed and performed during the 2023/24 academic year is shown here.

Specimen scores for a typical week for the Chapel Choir are available in this folder.

  • At Choral Evensong there is usually an Introit, Preces and Responses, Psalm(s), Canticles (Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis), and an Anthem.

  • At Sung Eucharist there is usually a choral Mass setting, and a Motet. There are additional hymns at both services, and chanted sentences at Sung Eucharist.

Note: we perform this volume of repertoire, of a similar difficulty, every week during term.
All posted scores are public domain editions.

  • Time commitment: approximately 7 hours each week, with extra rehearsals, services, and concerts around the busy seasons of Christmas and Easter. The normal schedule is Tuesdays from 7-9pm (rehearsal); Wednesdays from 4-6pm (Choral Evensong), and Thursdays from 4-6.30pm (The College Eucharist). In addition, Chapel Choir members are expected to learn and rehearse repertoire privately in their own time, to ensure preparedness for the two weekly performances. There is no regular Sunday commitment for the Chapel Choir, although concerts and some extra services are often scheduled at the weekend. The full schedule is announced at the start of each term.

  • Membership: open to King’s and Dalhousie students (and occasionally students from other local academic institutions depending on capacity).

  • Level: advanced - at least one year of previous choral experience is required (sacred or secular); two or more years of choral experience are recommended.

  • Skills: a high level of proficiency with musical notation and an ability to sight-sing; the ability to blend vocal sound into the choral ensemble; excellent time-management and time-keeping ability.

  • Although the Chapel Choir is a volunteer group, a limited number of choral and organ scholarships are available each year. For further information, please view the main King’s web site here.

    TO JOIN

    Please attend (in the congregation) at least one Choral Evensong on Wednesdays at 5pm in Chapel (beginning September 4, 2024) and one Choral Eucharist on Thursdays at 5pm in Chapel (beginning September 5, 2024). This will give a broad sense of our repertoire, style, and standard. Then email the Director of Chapel Music, Dr. Neil Cockburn to receive a copy of the choir schedule for the term, and to schedule an audition.