The choir consists of up to 21 boys and 6 gentlemen. The boys are all drawn from St Olave’s Grammar School, Orpington, and this has been the case since 1952. They rehearse three times a week at school (two of these rehearsals with Matthew Price, Director of Music at St Olave’s) and also on Sunday morning. The Gentlemen of the choir are all experienced and accomplished as soloists and choral singers, and some pursue singing as their sole career.
The full choir sings every Sunday morning during term time, in addition to the main religious festivals. They sing a broad repertoire ranging from 16th Century to the present day, including mass settings by Byrd, Mozart, Stanford, Leighton and Ron Corp, and other pieces by Tallis, Purcell, Vaughan Williams, Britten, and Malcolm Archer. They combine with the choir at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, every four years for a special service for The Royal Victorian Order. The choir has broadcast Evensong and other services from time to time over the years, and also in programmes recently with Richard Decker (Joint Head Chorister), who was BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year 2011.
December is always a busy month for the choir, as we sing carol services for The Association of Lancastrians in London, The Athenaeum Club, The Guild of the XIX Lubricators, The Institute of Engineering and Technology, and The Duchy of Lancaster. For the last few years we have taken part in The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music.