Music at Grace Cathedral is inextricably woven into the liturgy. The Choir is heard at the 11:00 am Sunday Eucharist and at the 5:15 pm Thursday Evensong. On major feast days brass and timpani, or full orchestra augments the Alexander Memorial Organ.

The Music Department includes the Canon Director of Music (Jeffrey Smith), the Assistant Director of Music (Ben Bachmann), and the Music Department Administrator (Kathy Lorimer-Cowan). The music department's staff oversees an extensive program of choir rehearsals (including both the Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys and the mixed-voice Camerata), music classroom work with the choirboys, education for the cathedral congregation, concerts, and a wide variety of other musical activities in the life of the cathedral and beyond.

Grace Cathedral Music Department contact list.

Liturgical Music List

InQuire newsletter: Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, vol. 4, no. 7

InQuire newsletter: Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, vol. 4, no. 6

InQuire newsletter: Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, vol. 4, no. 5

InQuire newsletter: Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, vol. 4, no. 4

InQuire newsletter: Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, vol. 4, no. 3

InQuire newsletter: Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, vol. 4, no. 2

InQuire newsletter: Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, vol. 4, no. 1

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Grace Cathedral has had a men's choir since its founding as an institution in 1906, but it was not until 1913 that boy's voices were added. The centuries-old Anglican tradition of a men and boys choir has since blossomed here, as one of a handful of such choirs in the United States. Currently, The Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys is comprised of 14 choirmen and 30 choristers. The boys of the Choir are students at the Cathedral School for Boys. The men of the Choir are a professional ensemble. The weekly choir rehearsal on Sunday mornings at 10:15 am is held in the Quire and is open to all visitors in the Cathedral.

Re-live, or experience for the first time, the cathedral's Choir of Men and Boys' recent tour to England and France.

Log onto http://web.mac.com/jds3rd

User Name: csbgracetour2007
Password: allezbuse

The website is a work in progress. Check back frequently for updates as choir members will likely be adding links from their own cyber-travelogues.

The Cathedral Camerata is a mixed-voice ensemble which sings a diverse repertoire of chant, Renaissance and Baroque motets, Anglican anthems and newly composed sacred works. The group offerns an excellent opportunity to serve in a vitally important ministry to the community. Cathedral membership is not required.

Camerata, a chamber choir under the direction of Assistant Director of Music, Ben Bachmann, rehearses on Wednesday evenings and sings twice monthly at Sunday Choral Evensong, Sunday morning Eucharist, and at festivals. Singers must have choral experience, read music, and commit to regular rehearsals.

For more information about this choir, or to arrange an audition, please contact Ben Bachmann at benb@gracecathedral.org or (415) 749-6334.

Our program called Singing for Pleasure offers choral groups a spot on the cathedral calendar to sing for 30 minutes. We restrict this to Mondays through Wednesdays from 1 pm - 3 pm, as the cathedral calendar allows. Choral groups must make arrangements in advance. The selections must be unaccompanied. We do not book any Singing for Pleasure informal recitals on weekends.

During the weeks immediately before Christmas or Easter, we do not schedule Singing for Pleasure visits, as the cathedral calendar must be kept clear for organ maintenance and practice time for the staff organists. Visiting choirs occasionally sing a pre-service program before the 11 am Choral Eucharist on Sunday mornings. More rarely, visiting choirs are invited to sing as the liturgical choir in one of our weekly liturgies. We request a recent tape or CD of the group together with the program being considered, along with the date you are requesting. All submissions are reviewed before a group is given permission to sing.

If you should have any further questions, please contact Kathy Cowan, Music Adminstrator, at at kathyc@gracecathedral.org or (415) 749-6332.

The Cathedral's organ, given by Harriet Crocker Alexander in memory of her husband Charles B. Alexander, was built by the Æolian-Skinner Company in 1934, with minor alterations in 1952, and additions in 1974 by Casavant Frères. Its some 7,466 pipes make it one of the largest organs in the Western United States and its beauty one of the finest American Classic organs in the world.