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The Choir of St. Paul's
The Choir of St. Paul's includes The Chancel Choir (adults) and The Choir School (grades K - 12).
Youth join equally with adults in offering music to the glory of God in St. Paul’s choir ministry.
WHAT'S NEW WITH THE CHOIR OF ST. PAUL'S?
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Sundays at 4pm 2026-2027 Season
The monthly Sundays at 4pm Series includes services of Evensong, Advent Lessons and Carols and annual concerts: a Christmas Concert with the Choir of St. Paul’s, the Marcia McCowin Concert, highlighting women composers and poets, and an original musical by the Choir School. The beautiful and uniquely Anglican service of Evensong (sung Evening prayer) draws on the ancient monastic offices of Vespers and Compline, and is centered on sung prayer and psalms. Click here for the Sundays at 4pm 2026-2027 season poster.
Highlighting Women Composers at St. Paul’s
A great host of women bring the glad tidings. ~ Psalm 68:11b
Expanding the canon of the world’s best sacred music, St. Paul’s continues to offer the song of a great host of women composers in services and concerts. Keep ears, minds and hearts open especially for music of black women composers Florence Price, Undine Smith Moore, Margaret Bonds, Errollyn Wallen; and other great women composers through the ages, from the chant of Kassia and Hildegard to German Romantic Fanny Hensel to contemporaries including Roxanna Panufnik, Melissa Dunphy, Margaret Burk, Katherine Burk Webb, and Shruthi Rajasekar. St. Paul’s Director of Music, Susan Jane Matthews, coordinates www.greathostcomposers.org, a listing of sacred choral music by women for the church year. Read more about women composers you may hear at St. Paul’s in this Great Host survey.
The Chancel Choir
The adults of the choir include volunteers and staff singers who join weekly to sing with the youth of the Choir School as the Choir of St. Paul’s. (See Choir of St. Paul’s at bottom of page.) They sing a diverse repertoire spanning from chant, Renaissance and Baroque motets to Anglican anthems, spirituals, and newly commissioned sacred works. During the choir season (Thursday after Labor Day through the Day of Pentecost or Trinity Sunday in late May / early June) they enrich the liturgy of the 10am Sunday Holy Eucharist, Christmas Eve Choral Eucharist, and the services of Holy Week and Easter Day. They sing for the monthly Sundays at 4pm series, including Evensong, Advent Lessons and Carols, and the Annual Christmas Concert. Individual musicianship training is offered to interested members through a Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) for adults program. Monthly birthday celebrations are held following the Thursday rehearsal.
Rehearsals:
Weekly on Thursdays, 7 – 8:30pm
Monthly Sectionals
Tenor and Bass: 7 – 8pm Tuesdays
Soprano and Alto: 7 – 8pm Wednesdays
Click here for 2026-2027 PDF calendar
Click here for 2026-2027 Google Calendar
Interested in joining the choir?
Email St. Paul's Music Director, Dr. Susan Jane Matthews, at smatthews@stpaulsburlingame.org. Membership at St. Paul’s is not required to sing in the St. Paul's Choir.
The St. Paul's Choir School includes:
The St. Cecilia Choir (Grades TK-1)
Weekly half-hour rehearsals help children find their natural singing voice and lay the groundwork for a life-long appreciation of music. The St. Cecilia Choir sings at the 10am Sunday Holy Eucharist several times throughout the choir season, and also at the Christmas Pageant, Choir School Musical, Easter Day, and two services of Choral Evensong.
Rehearsals on Tuesdays, 4:30-5pm.
Click here for the 2026-2027 PDF calendar
Click here for the 2026-2027 Google calendar
The Choristers (Grades 3 - 12; trebles)
Through the structured program of the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) Voice for Life training program, Choristers develop advanced vocal skills, musical understanding (theory and sight-singing), and knowledge of repertoire. The Choristers regularly join in singing soprano with the teens and adults of the choir at the Sunday 10am Holy Eucharist, in the monthly Sundays at 4pm Series, the Annual Christmas Concert, and the Christmas Eve pageant. In the spring, they perform in a Choir School musical or concert, which has included writing original musicals on the lives of Fanny Hensel and Florence Price. Choristers age 10 or older can attend the annual Chorister Festival West and travel with the Choir of St. Paul’s, including international residencies every three years. Choristers begin in a Track 2 where they sing approximately two St. Paul’s liturgies each month. Experienced choristers may advance to Track 1 and sing weekly at the Sunday 10am Eucharist and for the Christmas Eve Choral Eucharist. Eligibility and continuation in Track 1 is by invitation of the Director, with consideration of RSCM ribbons earned and readiness demonstrated. See the seasonal calendar for more details.
Rehearsals:
Wednesdays, 4 - 5:15pm; including RSCM time 4:45pm - 5:15pm
Thursdays, 6:30pm - 7:30pm Rehearsal (second half hour with Full Choir)
Track 1 Choristers continue until 8pm with the Full Choir
Click here for the 2026-2027 PDF calendar
Click here for the 2026-2027 Google calendar
The Teens (Grades 9 -12 and younger boys whose voices have changed)
Teen singers have the opportunity to further mature in their musicianship beyond the scope of the four RSCM ribbons, and to serve as mentors and leaders within the choir, while receiving small-group instruction focused on adapting to the vocal transitions during the teenage years for both boys and girls. Coaching is provided for special projects according to the singer’s interests including RSCM award exams, summer courses, solo work, conducting, and composition. Teens enrich the liturgy of the 10am Sunday Holy Eucharist, Christmas Eve Choral Eucharist, and the services of Holy Week and Easter Day. They sing for the monthly Sundays at 4pm series, including Evensong, Advent Lessons and Carols, the Annual Christmas Concert, and the spring Choir School musical.
Rehearsals:
SA Tuesdays, 6 – 6:45pm; 5:30 - 6pm Optional RSCM time
TB Wednesdays, 5:15 – 6pm; 4:45 - 5:15pm Optional RSCM time
SA & TB Thursdays, 7 – 8:30pm
Click here for the 2026-2027 PDF calendar
Click here for the 2026-2027 Google calendar
Choir School alumni return to sing with the choir at Christmas
The Choir of St. Paul's
THE CHOIR OF ST. PAUL'S draws together adult singers of the Chancel Choir with the youth of the Choir School. This intergenerational choir sings at the weekly 10am Sunday Holy Eucharist, Christmas Eve Choral Eucharist, and the services of Holy Week and Easter Day. They sing for the monthly Sundays at 4pm series, including Evensong (sung Evening Prayer), Advent Lessons and Carols, and the Annual Christmas Concert. In the Bay Area, the Choir of St. Paul’s has performed at Grace Cathedral, the Candy Store, the Carolands, on Burlingame Avenue, and in the summer concert series at Stanford University Memorial Church. In October 2017, young women of the Choir of St. Paul’s joined with the Men of the Grace Cathedral Choir, San Francisco to sing a Diocesan Eucharist. In May 2019, the Choir of St. Paul's hosted a Three Choirs Festival West with the Choir of Trinity Cathedral, Portland, Oregon and the Choir of Men and Boys of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. The choir annually returns to Grace Cathedral to sing a service with the cathedral choir.
In England, the Choir of St. Paul's represented St. Paul's in a week-long residency at Gloucester Cathedral in July 2017, also singing concerts at Oxford University Church and Blenheim Palace. In July 2022, they were in residence at Wells Cathedral, singing seven choral services, also concerts at Berkeley Castle and Wells Bishop’s Palace. In July 2025, they were in residence at Lincoln Cathedral, and also sang at Ely Cathedral and in Cambridge. The next international choir residency is planned for July 2028. The choir has recorded three albums – Sweetly Singing in the Choir (2014), Searching for Stars (2019), and Great Host (2024).
