Music at St Hilary’s is an integral part of the worship service and an opportunity for service, musical education, and spiritual enrichment for all ages. St Hilary’s has a wonderful musical tradition and has always focused on its ministry rather than the performance of music. Our mission is to bring the Word to light and to lift the spirits in God’s presence.
The music at St. Hilary’s seeks continually to enhance the worship experience through a balanced repertoire of traditional hymns, music of the masters from the 16th to the 21st centuries, psalms, and songs of praise and renewal. The service music and hymns, most of which are congregational, come from the 1982 Hymnal of the Episcopal Church as well as from several alternative sources.
Music at the Saturday evening “Come As You Are” Eucharist is led by piano/keyboard and is typically more contemporary.
The adult choir sings at the 10:30am Rite II service each Sunday and during the special services of the church year. Since many of our choir members are seasonal residents to Southwest Florida, we switch to music suited for 15 or less voices during the summer time period of June, July and August. The choir membership swells to nearly 34 during “season” here in what we call “paradise,” yet there is always room for one more!
In addition to the more serious task of providing suitable music for worship services, St Hilary’s choir likes to have fun. We’re proud of our real “family” feel and look forward to opportunities to get together to enjoy each other’s company outside of our rehearsals and worship service times. St Hilary’s may in fact be the only Episcopal Congregation that has a kazoo ensemble that likes to “perform” at parties and light-hearted programs when appropriate! We like to have fun.
Our Music Director, Stephen Brittain and Accompanist, Alena Michel, as well as many of our choir members participate in other musical endeavors locally so St Hilary’s plethora of musical talent is very visible community wide.
Our rehearsals are 7:00 PM until 8:30 PM each Thursday and the Sunday morning, and warm-up time is at 9:50 AM Sundays. All members of the choir are volunteer adults. There are no auditions, and an ability to read music is not a requirement, although the majority in each section sight-read very well. New members quickly learn how to follow a score.
