Music at the oratory

Applications are invited.

The London Oratory is famous for its rich organ and choral culture in the service of the classic traditions of Roman Catholic liturgy. It has three choirs and a music staff of four (including organ scholar).

The Oratory’s organ scholarship was endowed by the late Ian Pettman in memory of his wife, June. The Pettman Organ Scholarship, is for one year from September 2026, but can be extendable by mutual agreement to two. It is designed for a student who is on, or has just completed a postgraduate course, though an outstanding undergraduate may also be considered. Open to Catholics and non-Catholics.

Superb practice facilities: 1954 Walker/Downes (45 stops), 1975/2005 Flentrop (16 stops) and a 3-stop chamber organ by Peter Collins.

Value: £7,040 p.a. plus generous additional funds for educational development.

Full details below in the link box or from the Director of Music: Prof. Patrick Russill at russillpatrick@gmail.com

Closing date for applications: Friday, 16th January 2026
Auditions and interviews: Thursday, 5th February 2026

The choir of the London Oratory is the UK’s senior professional Catholic church choir and sings for all the major Latin liturgies at the Oratory. Comprising some of London’s leading ensemble singers, the choir is internationally renowned.   Its working repertoire covers all aspects and periods of music for the Latin Rite from Gregorian chant to the present day with special emphasis on 16th and 17th century polyphony and the Mass repertory of the late 18th and 19th centuries.

The London Oratory junior choir consists of boys and girls aged between 8 and 16 drawn from all over London.  They rehearse after school hours twice a week and sing for Tuesday Benedictions and Sunday 10.00am Mass.   The choir has appeared in award-winning recordings on DG Archiv and frequently sings for productions of the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. More information here. Parents of children interested in joining the choir are encouraged to contact the choir’s Director Charles Cole. Email: oratoryjuniorchoir@gmail.com

‍The schola cantorum of the London Oratory was founded in 1996.  Educated in the Junior House of the London Oratory School, boys from the age of 7 are given outstanding choral and instrumental training within a stimulating musical environment underpinned by Catholic traditions. The Schola is regarded as one of London’s leading boy-choirs, in demand for concert and recording work, and sings at the Saturday 6.00pm Mass in term-time.

Website: londonoratoryschola.com

Built by J.W.Walker & Sons and completed in 1954, the Oratory’s organ is one of the most important built in London in the post-World War II era.   Possessing 45 stops on 3 manuals and pedals, it was designed by Ralph Downes, Organist of the Oratory 1936-77 who was the most influential British organ designer of that period, responsible for the organs in the Royal Festival Hall, St Albans Abbey and Gloucester Cathedral amongst others.  

It was completely restored and overhauled in 2004-5, scrupulously preserving its original tonal design.  Its specification is quoted in full in The Cambridge Companion to the Organ (1998) as the model of modern English organ design, and the late Stephen Bicknell described it in Choir & Organ, 1997 as: ‘…an instrument of peerless tonal quality, perhaps the best of all the organs designed by the late Ralph Downes’.

The Oratory also possesses two other fine modern instruments, a 2-manual, 16-stop instrument in the Little Oratory by Flentrop of Holland, built in 1975 and restored by the original builders in 2005 and a 3-stop chamber organ by Peter Collins of 1979, restored in 1998, in the sanctuary.

Maintaining this tradition of public worship to the glory of God lies at the heart of the Oratory’s work, but the financial burden is an onerous and increasing concern.  

Thanks to a substantial bequest by the well-known TV cook and personality, the late Jennifer Paterson, and to subsequent generous benefactors, the Oratory Fathers have been able to establish The Oratory Choir Fund, to secure the future of the Choir through capital endowment.  But this promising start now needs to be built upon.

Would you too like to help safeguard this precious tradition?  Donations, whether one-off benefactions, regular payments, or legacies will be most gratefully received.  

Payments, indicating they are for the Oratory Choir Fund, should be made out to ‘The London Oratory Charity’ and sent to the Father Treasurer.  

The Oratory is a registered charity (no. 240702) and so tax may be claimed back on contributions made.  

Further details are available from the Father Treasurer, The Oratory, Brompton Road, London, SW7 2RP.