Coming Up

  • » Contact us to have your name added to the Chapel e-mail list.

  • In the Chapel:
  • » WELCOME STUDENTS! You may view the worship schedule for the week of February 20.

  • » PLEASE NOTE the new Chapel email: kings.college.chapel@gmail.com.

  • » Services in the Chapel during term include Choral Evensong (Wednesdays 5:30 pm) and Choral Solemn Eucharist (Thursdays 5 pm). Join us in the Winter term.

  • » Chapel services welcome all from the College and beyond, of any faith or none. About the services | Full weekly schedule

  • » The Chapel Wardens are students elected to work with the Chaplain to run the workings of the Chapel for the school year. Many students lead and contribute to activities, outreach, worship and events. Your Chapel wardens are Gavin Keachie, Leah Collins Lipsett and Sarah Keeshan. Please get in touch! Questions, ideas, and volunteers are very welcome!

    •  

A New Programme for Young Organists

The University of King's College is pleased to announce the creation of a new programme for young organists wishing to pursue their studies at the university level. Based on the model of Cambridge and Oxford Colleges, King's will be offering two organ scholarships, junior and senior, to begin in September 2009. The main duty of the Organ Scholars will be to accompany services, but they will also act as assistants to Paul Halley, the Director of Music, and sometimes deputise for him, taking rehearsals and conducting the Choir. It is anticipated that the Organ Scholars will play a prominent role in the artistic life of the College. The senior Organ Scholar will have the opportunity to assist as Music Scholar at St. George's Anglican Church, for additional remuneration, where Paul Halley also serves as Director of Music.

The purpose of this programme is to offer young, talented organists plenty of "hands-on" experience in all aspects of church music and organ performance while they are working on their degree. Both King's Chapel and St. George's Church are committed to the highest quality liturgy and music. Together they form a powerful training ground for any young people interested in pursuing a career in church music. St. George's Church (the Round Church) is the proud possessor of a 2004 Létourneau, and King's College is in the process of acquiring a new Casavant to replace the 1942 Casavant currently in the Chapel.

The Chapel Choir comprises around 20 singers who sing at the weekly services of Evensong on Wednesdays and the Solemn Eucharist on Thursdays. Since Halley's arrival in the Fall of 2007 the Choir has developed into a first-class ensemble with a repertoire ranging from Gregorian Chant through the Renaissance masters to the "contemporary mystics" Pärt, Tavener and Górecki. This year the Choir has offered several concerts throughout the province and will embark on a new series of concerts entitled "King's at the Cathedral" which will include a performance of "The St. John Passion" on Palm Sunday 2009, taking advantage of the wonderful acoustics of All Saints Cathedral, Halifax. Tours and recordings have now become part of the Choir's regular schedule.

There is a considerable degree of flexibility in the academic programmes available to the Organ Scholars. King's College and Dalhousie University maintain a very close relationship affording the student plenty of scope for his or her studies. King's now offers a BMus in organ performance which can also include, in the first year of studies, the Foundation Year Programme which has become a model for universities throughout North America since it began in 1972. Halifax itself offers many opportunities for growth and development for young musicians in a wide array of genres, not to mention a particularly vibrant community thanks to the presence of so many degree-awarding institutions.

Paul Halley is very happy to meet and hear prospective candidates at any time. If you would like further information, or to arrange a visit to King's, please contact:

Paul Halley
Director of Music
(902) 221-5320
paulhalley@eastlink.ca