Choral Evensong at Saint Mark's Cathedral, Seattle

FIRST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH, OCTOBER–JUNE, 4:30 P.M., in person in the cathedral nave, and livestreamed

The ancient practice of singing evening prayers is a longstanding practice in many Christian traditions. In English cathedrals, this practice developed, through the centuries, into a special sung service, and today Choral Evensong is a treasure among Christian liturgies and a jewel of the Anglican choral tradition.

The Saint Mark’s Evensong Choir, an intergenerational choir of children, teenagers, and adults, offers this beautiful service once a month. All are welcome.

About the Evensong Choir

This intergenerational ensemble consists of the most advanced Senior Choristers and members of the Schola of the Choir School, together with select auditioned adult singers. (The adult singers of the Evensong Choir are required to be members of Saint Mark’s Cathedral Choir or Compline Choir, unless they are professionally engaged as singers or directors in other churches on Sunday mornings.)

In addition to their monthly offering of Choral Evensong in the English Cathedral tradition, they also sing occasional special liturgies, including The Pageant of the Nativity, the 7:30 p.m. Christmas Eve service, and Tenebrae on Wednesday in Holy Week.

Evensong Choir Pilgrimage

The Evensong Choir departs for England tomorrow, Saturday, August 2, to serve as choir-in-residence for a week each in Lincoln and Durham Cathedrals, England. The funds which allowed all the singers to participate regardless of financial means were donated by many members of the Saint Mark's community, including those who supported the 2024 Hymnathon and 2025 Cabaret fundraisers. The choir holds this community gratefully in their hearts as they embark on this journey.

The choir, comprised of 21 choristers of the Choir School and 17 adult singers, will be joined by organist John Stuntebeck as well as Dean Thomason for the duration of the pilgrimage. Including parents and spouses, there are a total of 54 people traveling together. In addition to singing in liturgies almost every day, the group will take day trips to the cathedral of York and Peterborough, the Holy Island of Lindesfarne, the Beamish Museum, and more. The liturgies are as follows:

Lincoln Cathedral (See livestream here.)

Monday, August 4, 5:30 p.m. Evensong (9:30 a.m. Pacific Time) - watch here
Tuesday, August 5, 5:30 p.m. Evensong - watch here
Wednesday, August 6, 5:30 p.m. Festal Evensong (Feast of the Transfiguration) - watch here
Friday, August 8, 5:30 p.m. Evensong - watch here
Saturday, August 9, 5:30 p.m. Evensong watch here
Sunday, August 10, 10 a.m. Sung Eucharist (2 a.m. Pacific Time) - watch here
Sunday, August 10, 3:45 p.m. Evensong (7:45 a.m. Pacific Time) - watch here

Durham Cathedral (See livestream here.)

Monday, August 11, 5:30 p.m. Evensong (9:30 a.m. Pacific Time) - watch here
Tuesday, August 12, 5:30 p.m. Evensong - watch here
Wednesday, August 13, 5:30 p.m. Evensong - watch here
Friday, August 15, 5:30 p.m., Festal Eucharist (Feast of St. Mary the Virgin) - watch here
Saturday, August 16, 5:30 p.m. Evensong [not livestreamed]
Sunday, August 17, 10 a.m. Sung Eucharist (2 a.m. Pacific Time) - watch here
Sunday, August 17, 3:30 Evensong (7:30 a.m. Pacific Time) [not livestreamed]

The Evensong Choir will share some of the music they presented in England at Saint Mark's Sunday morning Eucharist service on Sunday, September 7.

In the summer of 2018, The Evensong Choir served as Choir-in-Residence at Ely Cathedral, and at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London. During these residencies, the choir sang the daily evensong service, in addition to the Sunday service of Holy Communion. On a day off from singing at Saint Paul's, they were honored to sing one service of evensong in Canterbury Cathedral, in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Just Welby (pictured).

The choir then made its second trip to England in August of 2022, serving residencies in the cathedrals of Chichester and Bristol, and a third in the summer of 2025 to Lincoln and Durham. These experiences are transformative both musically and spiritually for all the members of the choir—children, youth, and adults—and future such pilgrimages are intended to take place approximately every three years.