St Mary’s Church

Music Department

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The Music Department at St Mary’s Church

The Music Department at St Mary’s Church, Warwick, is the driving force behind the church’s rich and dynamic musical tradition. Led by the Director of Music, the department oversees a broad and ambitious programme that includes the choirs of boys, girls, men, and the St Mary’s Scholars, as well as an array of instrumentalists and guest performers who contribute to the church’s vibrant worship and concert life.

The department is responsible for planning and delivering the extensive schedule of choral services, including the weekly Eucharist, Choral Evensongs, and major festivals, as well as civic services and special events that mark important occasions in the life of the church and community. Alongside its liturgical role, the department curates a thriving concert series that attracts audiences from across the region, showcasing a wide variety of sacred and secular music.

Education and outreach are also central to the Music Department’s mission. Through its training programmes for choristers and adult singers, the department fosters musical development and offers young people in particular the chance to gain valuable experience in a supportive and inspiring environment. Tours, recordings, broadcasts and collaborations with other musical organisations further enrich the opportunities available to choir members.

With its combination of high artistic standards, a commitment to nurturing talent, and a vision that honours and celebrates tradition while embracing new possibilities, the Music Department ensures that St Mary’s Church remains a beacon of musical excellence and a treasured cultural asset within Warwick and beyond.

Oliver Hancock

The Director of Music

Oliver Hancock is Director of Music at the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, where he is responsible for the musical life of the Church, training and conducting the choirs of boys, girls, and men in services and concerts both in Warwick and further afield. He is the first also to hold the post of Choral Director at King’s High School, Warwick’s independent girls’ school.

He first started learning the organ under the watchful eye of his father, continuing his studies through school in Sussex, before becoming Organ Scholar at Jesus College, Oxford, where he read for a degree in Music. In 2010 he was among the first students to take the new MMus in Choral Studies degree at the University of Cambridge. From 2008-2012, he held the post of Assistant Organist to Ely Cathedral Girls’ Choir, and for the academic year 2011-2012 was also Graduate Organ Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. As Sub-Organist at Portsmouth Cathedral until Christmas Day 2017, Oliver accompanied daily services and regularly conducted the cathedral choirs in services and concerts as well as undertaking outreach work across the diocese. He also took part in notable sea-based events including performances alongside the Band of The Royal Marines and accompanying the commissioning service of the aircraft carrier HMS ELIZABETH II, in the presence of her namesake.

Oliver has toured much of mainland Europe and the East coast of the USA, appeared on a number of CDs as singer and accompanist, and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and BBC One television. Oliver maintains a regular round of recitals, including St Paul’s and Westminster cathedrals, Westminster Abbey, and many other institutions across the UK, as well as in Toronto, Italy, and Germany. He was for many years an Examiner for the ABRSM and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists.

dofm@stmaryswarwick.org.uk

The Assistant Director of Music

Mark Swinton was appointed Assistant Director of Music at the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick in October 2011, and plays a major role in training and accompanying the choirs of boys, girls, and men, and directs St Mary’s Scholars, the church’s mixed adult choir.

Educated at the King’s School Chester, Mark studied firstly for the BA in Music and then for the MA in Music at the University of York. He was awarded the Fellowship diploma of the Royal College of Organists in 2006 and has given numerous recitals at venues throughout the UK. He has also performed in France, Spain and Holland both as a soloist and an accompanist.

In 2003 he was appointed Organist at Clifton College, Bristol, where he played for daily Chapel services, accompanied the Chapel choirs in their regular round of services, concerts and tours and masterminded a recital series featuring the College’s splendid 1911 Harrison organ. His own recitals there included complete performances of Messiaen’s La Nativite du Seigneur and L’Ascension, as well as the first performance of a work written for him by Bryan Boulter.

In 2005 he became Assistant Organist at Bath Abbey where he accompanied and helped to direct the acclaimed Choirs of Boys, Girls and Men under the direction of Dr Peter King. He was Organist at Kendal Parish Church from September 2008. He has also directed Kendal South Choir in their programme of concerts.

adofm@stmaryswarwick.org.uk

https://markswinton.co.uk/

Mark Swinton

The Organ Scholar

St Mary’s offers a post-graduate organ scholarship in partnership with King’s High School, Warwick (where the postholder is Music Assistant). The Organ Scholar works closely with the Director and Assistant Director of Music in training the choristers and probationers, delivering musicianship and theory sessions, and accompanying services, alongside playing an active role in the busy Music Department at King’s High School. Recent Organ Scholars have gone on to teaching positions at Dulwich College, in Bristol and in Newcastle, and church music posts at the Chapel Royal of St James’ Palace and Holy Trinity in Stratford-upon-Avon. Our current Organ Scholar is Colin Lapus.

The Music Administrator

Paddy Barr is St Mary’s Music Administrator. Having retired from full-time employment as a secretary and volunteering in spare time in churches whilst living in Stockport and Northampton, Paddy’s love of choral music drew her to St Mary’s, where she assists as a volunteer in the daily administration of the Music Department.

musicadmin@stmaryswarwick.org.uk

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