Chant training in July: photos

This month has seen more chant training events than any other this year, with two sessions at the St Birinus Festival in Dorchester on Thames, and the Premonstrensian Rite event in Bailham Abbey in Kent, plus the Gregorian Chant Network day in London. There was also a chant training session in the We Beleive Festival in Oscott.

All have been well attended, and have generated great enthusiasm. Here are some photos from London: at the church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Warwick Street. The day was led by Matthew Ward (who also led the training in Bailham Abbey) and Mass and Vespers was celebrated by Fr Mark Elliot Smith.

We are taking August off, but will be back with an event in Holy Rood, Oxford on 26th September

More details here; booking here; about the venue.

The final event of the calendar year will be back in Warwick Street, 19th December, the Ember Saturday of Advent.

More details here; booking here; about the venue.

Singing Vespers

Chant training in Warwick Street, May 2026: photos

 Iain Simcock, assisted by Julian Jones, led a chant training day in Our Lady of the Assumption, Warwick Street, for the Ember Saturday of Pentecost, with about 30 participants.

We are very grateful to Fr Mark Elliot Smith for providing both the venue and the liturgy: the full form of the Ember Saturday Mass and the First Vespers of Trinity Sunday.

Events for 2026: Updated

We have additional events in June and July! 

30th May, Warwick Street, London

Our Lady of the Assumption, 10 Warwick St, London W1B 5LZ

Led by Iain Simcock and Julia Jones

Doors open 10am; 10:30am start; ends 5.45pm. Fee: £10 or £5

More details here; booking here

Traditional Sung Mass at 12 noon for the Ember Saturday of Pentecost.

6 June Isle of Wight

Quarr Abbey, with Abbot Xavier Perrin and Dominic Bevan. 

Organised by the Portsmouth Gregorian Chant 

Details and booking.

Friday 10 July, Dorchester on Thames

Village Hall, 7 Queen St, Dorchester, OX10 7HR

Led by Fr Guy Nichols Cong. Orat.

Starts 9:45am. Free!

Mass at 11 am in Dorchester Abbey. Ends with Vespers at 5pm.

More details and booking here.

Sat 11 July, Dorchester on Thames

Church of St Birinus, Bridge End, Wallingford OX10 7JR

Led by Iain Simcock.

Starts at 9:45am. Free!

Ends with Vespers in Dorchester Abbey at 5pm

More details and booking here.

Sat 11 July, Tunbridge, Kent

Bayham Old Abbey, with Matthew Ward

Starts at 10am. Details here.

For more about the venue, see here.

Sat 25 July, Warwick Street, London

Our Lady of the Assumption, 10 Warwick St, London W1B 5LZ

Led by Mathew Ward and Julia Jones

Doors open 10am; 10:30am start; ends 5.45pm. Fee: £10 or £5

More details here; booking here.

Traditional Sung Mass at 12 noon for the feast of St James the Apostle.

Organised by the Latin Mass Society

Sat 26th Sept, Oxford, Holy Rood

Holy Rood Church, Abingdon Road, Oxford OX1 4LD

With Iain Simcock and Dominic Bevan

Doors open 10am; 10:30am start; ends 4pm

More details here; booking here; about the venue.

Traditional Sung Mass at 12 noon for the Ember Saturday of September. Fee: £10 or £5

Organised by the Latin Mass Society

Sat 19th Dec, Warwick Street

Our Lady of the Assumption, 10 Warwick St, London W1B 5LZ

More details here; booking here; about the venue.

Led by Iain Simcock and Julia Jones

Doors open 10am; 10:30am start; ends 5.45pm. Fee: £10 or £5

Traditional Sung Mass at 12 noon for the Ember Saturday of Advent.

Organised by the Latin Mass Society

Chant training in Haverstock Hill: photos

 

Fr Matthew Jarvis OP and Dominic Bevan, led a chant day organised by the Southwell Consort in association with the Gregorian Chant Network, at St Dominic's, Haverstock Hill, the Rosary Shrine. 

It was attended by fifteen members of the Southwell Consort and about 37 members of the public. These rehearsed separately but came together to sing Lauds in the Roman Rite, and Vespers in the Dominican Rite.

The Southwell Consort is organising another event 11th July, in the course of the St Birinus Music Festival in Dorchester on Thames: see here.

Chant Training Dates for 2026

We are pleased to announce an exciting series of Chant Training days for 2026. This page will be updated with links to further information and booking pages as these become available.

All these events are financially supported by the Latin Mass Society.

Sat 14th February, Portsmouth

St John's Cathedral, Portsmouth PO1 3HG

Doors open 10am; 10:30am start; ends 4.30pm 

More details here; booking here.

Part of the series of monthly events of the Portsmouth Gregorian Chant Course

Sat 28th Feb, Rosary Shrine, London

St Dominic's, Haverstock Hill, Southampton Rd, London NW5 4LB. 

Led by Fr Matthew Jarvis OP and Dominic Bevan, with a particular focus on Dominican chant.

Doors open 9:50am; 10am start; ends 3:30pm  (11am Roman Rite Lauds; the day concludes with Dominican Rite Vespers.)

More details here; booking here. Fee: £10 or £5

Organised by the Southwell Consort

Sat 14 March, Portsmouth

St John's Cathedral, Portsmouth PO1 3HG

Doors open 10am; 10:30am start; ends 4.30pm 

More details here; booking here.

Part of the series of monthly events of the Portsmouth Gregorian Chant Course

30th May, Warwick Street, London

Our Lady of the Assumption, 10 Warwick St, London W1B 5LZ

Led by Iain Simcock and Julia Jones

Doors open 10am; 10:30am start; ends 5.45pm. Fee: £10 or £5

More details here; booking here.

Traditional Sung Mass at 12 noon for the Ember Saturday of Pentecost.

Organised by the Latin Mass Society

Sat 11 July, Dorchester on Thames

Church of St Birinus, Bridge End, Wallingford OX10 7JR

Led by Iain Simcock.

Starts at 9:45am. Free!

Ends with Vespers in Dorchester Abbey at 5pm

More details and booking here.

Sat 25 July, Warwick Street, London

Our Lady of the Assumption, 10 Warwick St, London W1B 5LZ

Led by Mathew Ward and Julia Jones

Doors open 10am; 10:30am start; ends 5.45pm. Fee: £10 or £5

More details here; booking here.

Traditional Sung Mass at 12 noon for the Ember Saturday of Pentecost.

Organised by the Latin Mass Society

Sat 26th Sept, Oxford, Holy Rood

Holy Rood Church, Abingdon Road, Oxford OX1 4LD

With Iain Simcock and Dominic Bevan

Doors open 10am; 10:30am start; ends 4pm

More details here; booking here.

Traditional Sung Mass at 12 noon for the Ember Saturday. Fee: £10 or £5

Organised by the Latin Mass Society

Sat 19th Dec, Warwick Street

Our Lady of the Assumption, 10 Warwick St, London W1B 5LZ

More details here; booking here.

Led by Iain Simcock and Julia Jones

Doors open 10am; 10:30am start; ends 5.45pm. Fee: £10 or £5

Traditional Sung Mass at 12 noon for the Ember Saturday of Advent.

Organised by the Latin Mass Society

(Left to right) Julia Jones, Iain Simcock and Joseph Shaw,
at the Warwick Street chant day 20th December 2025

Chant training in London, December 2025: photos

 This was led by Iain Simcok and Julia Jones, and attracted about 23 people (more booked, but couldn't make it on the day).

We accompanied the Mass of the Ember Saturday of Lent, and at the end of they day, Vespers, both celebrated by Fr Mark Elliot Smith, the Parish Priest.

Chant training day in Reading, Sat 25 October 2025

St William of York, at the recent visit of Bishop Schneider

Saturday 25 October 2025, 

at St William of York, Reading

Starts at 10:45am; concludes at 5:30pm.

With Iain Simcock of the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge.

All levels of previous experience welcome. The day will conclude with a Votive Mass of Our Lady, accompanied by the participants.

£10; £5 for students/unwaged.

Address:
46 Upper Redlands Rd,
Reading, RG1 5JP

More info here.

Booking form here.

Singers Wanted: 
St James's, Spanish Place

The Young Adults Group (YAG) at St James's, Spanish Place, is dedicated to promote the Catholic faith among young adults through activities such as the Faith Clinic, social events, and most notably, a Sung Mass held on the last Sunday of each month.

The YAG has recently formed a young adults choir under the direction of a skilled Gregorian singer, and a few talented members have already joined.   The group is now looking to expand the choir with additional singers of a similar calibre who share their commitment to sacred music and would be interested in rehearsing and singing with them regularly.

If you might be interested in joining St James's YAG choir in their efforts to enrich the liturgy, or if you simply have any questions, please contact the YAG leader, Maryam Hoarau, at stjamesyamw1@gmail.com .

 

St Dunstan Chant Day

Saturday 17 May 2025 - St Mary the Virgin Church, Iffley

A one day workshop organised by the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge.

As part of his studies, one of the Schola’s younger Associates (Henry Darlison) presented a Paper on a section of the beautiful 13th Cent. Worcester Antiphonary, looking particularly at the hagiography, Lessons, and Chant surrounding St Dunstan. He has put forward a fascinating and convincing hypothesis regarding the monks’ emotional experience during a particular section of the Office, and attendees will be singing some of this to explore it in practice.

This Antiphonary is believed to be the sole surviving receptacle of the Office of St Dunstan, one-time archbishop of Canterbury, and one of the best-known and popular English saints before the time of St Thomas Becket.

The Schola’s Regional Director, Matthew Ward, already has a warm relationship with St Mary’s, Iffley, and this Chant Day is being held under his direction at this stunning church on Sat 17th May (nearest day to the feast of St Dunstan, patron saint of bell-ringers etc).

For full details and to register see https://www.scholagregoriana.org/st-dunstan-chant-day-saturday-17-may-2025-st-marys-church-iffley/

Requiem Mass for All Souls

Sat 2 November — 11:00/14:30-15:30 —  St Dominic’s Rosary Shrine, London NW5.

The Requiem Mass for All Souls will be in the Dominican Rite and for deceased Associates, Benefactors, and Friends of the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge, courtesy of the Prior of St Dominic’s Rosary Shrine.

Mass will begin at 14:30, preceded from 11:00 a.m. by a study of the sublimely-beautiful Missa pro Defunctis and general coaching in the singing of the Chant under the Schola's Musical Director, Iain Simcock.   Singers should arrive at the rehearsal room by 10:55 a.m. to ensure a prompt start.

Since the various sung sections of the Mass vary in difficulty, whilst some will wish to approach the most challenging sections, it is anticipated that all course attendees will at the very least wish to sing the Ordinary and perhaps also participate in singing the Sequence, Dies Irae, antiphonally.

For full details see the Schola Gregoriana website.   To allow preparation of  enough copies of the singing material etc, please indicate your interest at this stage by contacting info@scholagregoriana.org

RSCM Online Event — Demystifying Plainchant

 

RSCM Online Event — Demystifying Plainchant 

Wed 4 December — 19:00-20:00

• Ever wanted to try singing Plainchant but been fearful of getting it 'wrong'?
• Unsure where to start?
• Not quite sure if it's right in your context?

Martin Baker, former Master of the Music at Westminster Cathedral is deeply versed in the traditions of chant, and in this discussion session, chaired by RSCM's Director Hugh Morris, he will unpack some of the basics, but also offer advice about how to sing chant with a sense of style, to enhance worship to maximum effect.
Bring your questions, too!

Find out more and sign up on the RSCM website.

Chant Day at Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon

The Schola Gregoriana is holding a chant training day on Sat 12 October at Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon.  For full details see Schola Gregoriana’s website.

Ongoing activities

The GCN is not currently organising training events for the general public, but thanks to the sponsorship of the Latin Mass Society we have been arranging tuition for particular groups of singers, most recently in Withermarsh Green and Lanherne Convent in Cornwall.

The Latin Mass Society's Southwell Consort singing chant and polyphony at 
Corpus Christi Maiden Lane in London.

If you are part of a chant group singing for the Traditional Mass, and are interested in such help, please get in touch through the Latin Mass Society: info@lms.org.uk, marked 'Gregorian Chant Training'.

London: Houghton Schola to resume singing - call for singers

Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane, London

It has been a long winter for Gregorian Chant, but we can finally announce that the Houghton Schola, the Latin Mass Society's all-male training schola for London, will resume rehearsing and singing in September.

They will be singing at Corpus Christi Maiden Lane, two Monday evening Masses a week, and as a rule they will have one rehearsal a month to prepare both Masses, in the office of the LMS itself, which is in Macklin Street, Holborn.

To register your interest in singing, please email southwell@lms.org.uk 

The Director, Dominic Bevan, is also leading a new, mixed, polyphonic consort, the Southwell Consort, which you can also enquire about through this address.

The Houghton Schola trains chant singers who may or may not have previous experience. The Southwell Consort provides an opportunity to sing in a liturgical setting for people with musical training but who have not become professional musicians. 

The first rehearsal of the Houghton Schola will be on Friday 10th September.

Chant workshop, Ealing

Ealing Abbey

Gregorian Chant Workshop

Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 October 2019

Led by Philip Duffy, Master of Music, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, 1966-96

Workshop includes instruction on:

Singing the chants for the Mass for the 28^th Sunday

Voice production

Singing legato

Singing chants for the Feast of St. Edward the Confessor

ADVANCE BOOKING REQUIRED

Cost:  £30 (including light refreshments; bring your own lunch)

Enquiries/booking:  Patrick and Annie Martin

020 8991 1081

parotema@gmail.com

www.ealpc.org