“We do not sing because we are happy, we are happy because we sing” (William James)
Why have a Choir?
Choir and Music are hugely important at St. Clement’s. Christ said that he came to give life, and where there is life there is joy. Singing, as a joyous activity, is absolutely part of man’s everyday life and music communicates to every single one of us in different ways. As Christians, we minister with songs to attend to the needs and wants of those who come to worship God, and in worship there are songs for the declaration of Faith, for Comfort, for Hope, for Forgiveness, for Joy, for the Coming of Christ, for Christ’s death, for Christ’s resurrection, for the redemption of the world by His Love and also for the life everlasting. Songs of worship can bring God’s visitation, direct message and even healing to people. In doing all of the above music plays a vital role in proclaiming Christ’s message to us all, and the Choir and Music in general are key in that.
What does the Choir do?
The Choir at St. Clement’s plays the role of leading the church congregation in all hymns and worship songs in our services. It is a joy to be a choir member at St. Clement’s, and it is also a spiritual privilege that require self discipline, continuous learning, and a willingness to serve God. The beautiful result is the happiness you feel after completion of each song, as well as the joy of making others happy.
Listen to the choir beautifully sing
Allegri’s ‘Miserere mei, Deus‘
at our Christmas fundraising concert.
Listen to the choir’s own gorgeous arrangement of ‘O Holy Night,’ sung in a mixture of English and Ukrainian.
Choir Rehearsal
The choir meets for rehearsal on Wednesdays from 6 – 8 pm at Klimentská 18, 1st floor, and for the Sunday Service every Sunday at 10:45 am.
Interested?
If you are interested in adding your voice to ours, please contact the Choir coordinator – Adenubi Babatunde on +420 608 172 773 or by email at choir@anglican.cz
To find out more about the role that Music plays in the Church of England please click on this link.
2025 Events
For 2025, the choir prepared several special pieces for Easter, including Mozart’s ‘Ave verum corpus,’ Handel’s ‘Worthy is the Lamb,’ and Verbytskyy’s ‘Svyatyy Bozhe,‘ as well as an Easter song, ‘Christ is Risen,’ written by one of the choir members.
Join us for our Christmas season programs featuring songs from around the world from a wide variety of composers and eras, including the world-premiere of a fabulous arrangement of ‘We Three Kings‘ by H. M. Conner made specially for the choir.
- Christmas Fundraising Concert – 14 December, 6 pm
- Ukrainian Carols – 20 December, 6 pm
- 9 Lessons & Carols – 21 December, 6 pm
2024 Events
Choir events for 2024 included several special pieces for Easter Sunday and the joyous celebration of the Choir’s 2nd anniversary, coinciding with Ukrainian Easter, which took place on 5 May during the Sunday service.
Additionally, the choir participated in a joint choir event with the host congregation on 9 June followed by a special farewell service for a Ukrainian member of the choir in July.
The choir had a wonderful Christmas season with 3 special events, all featuring a variety of beautiful compositions from different countries and composers spanning a millenium:
- the Christmas fund-raising concert on 11 December,
- the 9 Lessons & Carols on 15 December, and
- the beloved bi-lingual Ukrainian Lessons & Carols on 22 December.
Concerts at St. Clement’s
At St. Clement’s we are lucky to be able to host a number of concerts throughout the year, whether it is a concert by our own St. Clement’s Choir or by an Oxbridge College Choir on a tour around Europe or a recital by accomplished individuals or groups of musicians, and all serve three purposes, to glorify God through music, to entertain and move the audience, and lastly to raise funds for worthy causes. Please come back to this website to look out for upcoming events or sign up to our newsletter to receive further information about this and other aspects of our life at St. Clement’s on a regular basis.
Our Organist
We are immensely privileged at St. Clement’s to have Professor Michal Novenko as our regular organist. Professor Novenko has been a Professor at the Prague Conservatoire since 1990 and has performed as an organist in most European countries as well as in the USA and Mexico, Israel and South Africa at such major international organ festivals as those here in Prague, Sion (Switzerland), Arezzo and Rome (Italy), Oundle (UK), Philadelphia (USA), and Mexico City (Mexico).
He has also held organ masterclasses in the UK (Oundle) and in the USA (Denton, San Antonio, Miami), and is indubitably one of the most accomplished organists in Prague, if not Europe. St. Clement’s is blessed to have him.