Photo courtesy of St. Mark’s.
Earlier this week, St. Mark’s School of Texas announced that its choir was recently selected to be a part of a British documentary film, Lighten Our Darkness: Illuminating Choral Evensong, centered around the practice of Evensong services.
Evensong is a church service held daily as the sun goes down, a tradition that St. Mark’s Choir has participated in since the 1950s, according to a news release. They will join a choir from the Netherlands as the only two choirs featured outside of the United Kingdom.
Performing for an international audience is not new to the choir students, however. Next July, the choir will sing nightly Evensong services in Durham Cathedral and Westminster Abbey as part of their two-week biennial tour, which has previously included stops in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Africa.
“I joined the choir as a sixth grader in 1989 and went on my first tour the following summer,” said Zachary Erwin, language department chair and former St. Mark’s chorister. “It was my first time away from home, my first time out of the country, and my first time on an airplane. Traveling with the Choir under the direction of longtime Choirmaster Jim Livengood felt both safe and familiar, and at the same time like a great adventure. While I wasn’t aware of it at the time, those experiences stayed with me and later contributed to my desire to study Spanish and, ultimately, to become a teacher.”
The St. Mark’s Choir includes boys from fourth to twelfth grade, totaling more than 80 students.
“Choral music in North Texas has been thriving for quite some time, and we are very fortunate to help be the custodians of this wonderful music and tradition,” said St. Mark’s Choirmaster and organist Glenn Stroh.
