All Saints Margaret Street | The Choir

The Choir

A choir school was established at the church in 1843, which provided music for daily choral services. The choir was widely recognised for its excellence, and choristers sang at the coronations of Edward VII, George V and VI, and Elizabeth II, as well as at Victoria’s Jubilees. Among its alumni was Laurence Olivier. The school closed in 1968, at which point the boys’ voices were replaced by sopranos.

The present-day choir maintains the exacting standards of its predecessors, and is now led by the Acting Director of Music Jeremiah Stephenson.

All Saints has an important link to Rachmaninov: Vale arranged Rachmaninov’s Mass with English words, which the composer came to hear twice, in 1915 and 1923, declaring himself pleased with the result. It is still sung on Palm Sunday.