A CHOIR is looking forward to their first Christmas with a whole host of bookings and requests.

St Mary’s Church choir, in Maldon, was formed in January and is already well renowned around the country.

Director of music for the choir, Colin Baldy, said: “The choir is really going great guns and we’re beginning to get quite a high profile in the town as well as receiving lots of invitations to sing around the country and abroad.”

The choir will be performing at St Mary’s Church at 6pm on December 21 for what is being called ‘Nine Lessons and Carols’.

Mr Baldy said: “The first recorded ceremony of nine lessons and carols was at Truro Cathedral in 1880. This followed the tradition, found throughout the land, of carollers wandering around the community singing at various points along the way. “ The congregation will get the chance to join in with their favourite carols.

Then at 11pm on December 24 the choir will also perform during Midnight Mass.

Mr Baldy said: “The choir of St Mary’s will be joined by the orchestra which accompanied the beautiful performance of Fauré’s Requiem to sing Haydn’s St Nicholas Mass.

“Although we can probably not count on snow in Maldon, the atmosphere should be at least something like the Christmas which church-goers would experience in Vienna where this music would first have been heard.”