St. Mary's Church - Associations
Lifting Hearts to Heaven Through Sacred Song
St. Mary’s Choral Group
The St Mary’s Choral Group which has its origin in the Nineteen Sixties and initiated by Fr. Claver Perera, which then went on to be called the youth choir in the 1980’s reverted back to the name St. Mary’s Choral group. TAs one of the main Parish choirs, it continues to regularly sing at the Sunday 8.30 am mass and at the liturgical high points of St. Mary’s such as the Easter Tridium, Christmas, the Carol service and to lead the singing at the church feast and Corpus Christi celebrations.
This choir comprises of working professionals and a few young students, – a majority of nonparishioners, coming from other parishes, to sing for the love of song and worship, for the camaraderie and for the love of inspiring and enhancing the quality and experience of worship.
The choir has an average of about twenty-five to thirty mixed voices which seeks to maintain a good harmonious balance between the male and female parts, together with it’s in house organists and conductors.
The repertoire of the choir is varied from traditional and modern hymns and songs to polyphonic and acapella singing of even the Latin classics and parts of the Latin mass. The St. Mary’s choral group celebrated ‘20 years in harmony’ with a concert at in 1987 and ’25 years in harmony’ with a concert in 1993 both under the guidance of Rev. Fr. Claver Perera.
"Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonderful works."
– 1 Chronicles 16:9
The inspiring handling of the organ though the years by Neranjan Silva for special celebrations such as Easter and Christmas is continued by Neomal de Alwis who is SMCG’s current in house organist, adding richness and grandeur to the singing.
In early 2023, SMCG initiated and collected funds for a state of the art Johannus Vivaldi 370 Electronic pipe organ which was installed at St. Mary’s in August that year. An organ dedication concert followed on the 9 th of September ’23, graced by a very large congregation. The rich and grand tones of the organ added immensely to the quality and timbre of the singing.
The choir while benefiting much from non-parishioner singers have now also thankfully added their children ensuring continuity through the level of another generation. SMCG continues to carry on a quality repertoire of singing, enriching the liturgical service and uplifting the experience of those who attend its services.
