Andrew Clayton is the recently appointed Director of Music at St Matthew’s Church at the top of Walsall’s iconic market hill. He’s wasted no time since his arrival in establishing a popular community choir, and now he has his sights firmly set on Christmas.
“We want to invite Walsall to join us for festive celebrations. It’s not just my church, but every church in Walsall will be finding ways to celebrate the season with their local community.”
In fairness, Andrew’s going the extra mile to deliver – a special event on International Chorister Day this month to provide a launch platform for his Christmas Choir and invitations to local choral societies to join in.
There is a Civic Carol service planned for Sunday 11th December, and an evening traditional carol service the following weekend. Andrew’s busiest time of the year is nearly done by Christmas Eve, when the church opens its doors to worshippers for the 23:15 midnight mass and with a flourish of joyful singing Christmas Morning concludes his festive duties until next year.
Singers in Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass voices are welcome to join the Christmas Choir every Wednesday until the big day, at 18:30 in St Matthew’s Church Centre. Reading music isn’t essential, but a bit of confidence is a good start.
The Community Choir meets the same night at 19:30 for about an hour. You can have a tea or coffee and a chocolate biscuit in good company, and then spend time singing together.
Andrew is very clear that anyone can get involved if they want to – and from the evidence we’ve seen, it’s a warm and welcoming community that awaits.
For more information about the church and services along with all their activities, you can visit their website: www.stmatthewswalsall.co.uk or their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/stmatthewswalsall
