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St Francis' Choir History
St Francis’ Choir, in the Catholic Archdiocese of
Melbourne, Australia, has maintained a tradition of
fine liturgical music since 1845. Its first performance was at the opening of St Francis’ Church in October 1845. From that time the choir has been one of Melbourne’s important cultural institutions.
St Francis’ Church is an inner city church, on the corner of Lonsdale and Elizabeth Streets. It was built between 1841 and 1845. Samuel Jackson, the leading architect of the then tiny farming community, designed it in a primitive gothic style. Rev Patrick Geoghegan, an Irish Franciscan and Melbourne’s first Roman Catholic priest built the church. He must have envisioned a great future for the little settlement for the church was large by the standards of the day. It is now
Melbourne’s oldest surviving building.
In 1847 Melbourne was proclaimed a diocese. With the arrival of Bishop James Goold, an Irish Augustinian, St Francis’ became the Cathedral. It remained so until 1869 when the See was transferred to the vast new St Patrick’s Cathedral.
Fueled by the gold rush, Melbourne grew rapidly. St Francis’ Choir was soon well established with its own orchestra and leading soloists such as Anna Bishop,
Nellie Melba and Amy Castles. The choir gave the first local performances of many of the great Masses. These included those by Haydn, Schubert, Gounod, Weber, Beethoven and Mozart.
Due to liturgical reforms, in September 1937 the women were dismissed from the choir. It is interesting to note that this resulted in the choir entering a decline. Then in 1961 Rev Ernest ‘Chappy’ Rayson re-established the choir on its traditional foundations.
Roger Heagney KCSG, OAM became Director of Music in 1967. During his 31 years, the repertoire of
orchestral Masses returned along with an active pursuit of music by
modern Australian composers. In 1986 and 1991 the choir undertook
highly successful tours of
Europe. Roger Heagney retired as Director of Music in 1998 and was succeeded by
Tony Way.
Since 1929 the care of the church has been in the hands of the French order, the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. In 2000, the old church was fully restored, ready to face the new century. At this time a magnificent new pipe organ by the Canadian firm of
Casavant Frères was installed. This magnificent instrument is played by the Organist and Assistant Director of St Francis’ Choir, the acclaimed musician
Anthony Halliday.
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