St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Galway

About the choir

St. Nicholas’ Schola Cantorum was founded in 2012, a modern reimagining of the ancient college of singers, established here in 1486 and which gives the church its special title. (More about the history of music in St Nicholas’).

In 2012, the Rector, Select Vestry and parish community decided to revive the ancient college, honouring the church’s musical heritage but in a new dynamic that reaches out to all the people of Galway. St. Nicholas Schola Cantorum secures the musical future of the church and provides an invaluable musical and educational resource in the wider community.

Its three aims are:

• the enrichment of worship
• the education of singers
• the promotion of the arts

These aims are met through the five choral ensembles that comprise the Schola Cantorum.

The Parish Choir is an adult ensemble of up to twenty-four voices and as the principal choir of St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church is one of Galway’s most established musical institutions. The choir sings regularly at the Sunday morning parish Eucharist and also sings Evensong termly. The special services of Advent, Christmas, Holy Week and Easter have become highlights of the choir’s programme, together with occasional visits to other churches and cathedrals around Ireland.

The Parish Choir is open to all, giving adult singers from a wide variety of backgrounds, nationalities and experience the opportunity to sing an eclectic range of liturgical music every week. Tuition in sight singing and vocal production is a regular part of choir membership, giving those less experienced singers valuable help in acquiring the necessary skills.  If you would like to join the Parish Choir, contact the Organist.

The Choristers of St Nicholas Schola Cantorum comprise up to thirty boys and girls aged 8-14, drawn from the parish, St Nicholas’ Parochial School and the wider community. The choristers receive a unique musical education through weekly rehearsals, and singing and musicianship classes utilising the RSCM Voice for Life scheme. The choristers participate frequently in the Sunday morning parish Eucharist in St Nicholas’, and also sing at other special services and occasions.

Each September, auditions are held for new choristers, and there is usually an open day and rehearsal in which prospective choristers and their families can get a taste of what the choir is about. Membership is open to all children regardless of religious or cultural background. Prospective choristers do not have to be already musically literate, learning an instrument, or already singing in other choirs (although all these things help). The most important things are a good ear and a sparkle in the eye!

NUI Galway Choral Scholars  In an exciting new link between Galway’s university and its ancient collegiate church, up to twenty NUI Galway students are awarded annual choral scholarships by the university to take part in the Schola Cantorum programme. There are annual auditions for potential scholars at the beginning of the academic year, and successful candidates then join a small high-achieving chamber ensemble which rehearses twice weekly during the two short choral semesters and sings the ancient and beautiful monastic service of Compline on Thursday evenings in a candlelit church. The Choral Scholars also sing at events on campus, including concert appearances as part of the Arts in Action programme.

There are also limted places within the group for non-NUI Galway students, and in the last year, a new relationship has been forged with Galway Technical Institute, with two GTI students taking part in the programme.

St. Nicholas' Singers  This large all-comers choir is drawn from the wider Galway region, both city and county, and beyond. The choir’s dual purpose is to introduce people of all ages and abilities to the church’s special musical heritage, and perform large-scale choral repertoire in the appropriate liturgical season. The group convenes once or twice a year to learn over the course of a weekend a major work and then perform it in concert. This pattern of rehearsal allows many people who sing in other choirs to take part, and thus the makeup of the choir includes every level of ability and experience.

Collegium  The Schola Cantorum’s flagship chamber choir takes its title from the ancient designation of the church dating back to 1486. The choir comprises 16-20 singers depending on the type of project undertaken, and is made up of Galway’s finest choral singers. Most members sing in one of the Schola’s other choirs and many also sing in other Galway choral ensembles. Membership is by invitation or audition. The choir is project-based, in that it doesn’t meet regularly for weekly rehearsal but comes together for a short period of intensive rehearsals leading up to a concert performance.

The Vicars Choral of St Nicholas are skilled musicians who sing with all the adult ensembles of the Schola Cantorum, assist in the training of singers, and are remunerated on a semi-professional basis. These posts have their origins in the fifteenth century Collegiate foundation, which included eight singing priests, known as vicars, whose role was to sing the daily services in the church and to train the boy choristers who sang with them. The term vicar (from the Latin vicarius, meaning deputy) was used in many places for those singers who sang the daily services in the place of non-resident clerical dignitaries; in Galway it was also connected with the various parish lands and incomes (vicarages) that gradually accrued to the collegiate establishment.

Currently, there are two Vicars Choral appointed; it is hoped to appoint two more over the coming year (thus covering all four voice parts) an eventually to increase the number to eight, providing a double quartet of singers. These posts are suitable for singers with choral experience and sightreading ability, but also those who would like to develop further their vocal technique and musicianship and to avail of the expertise on offer.

Organist and Director of Music, Mark Duley.

To contact St. Nicholas' Schola Cantorum, please click HERE.