Friends of the Musicians’ Chapel

The Friends of the Musicians’ Chapel exists to support and sustain the Musicians’ Chapel and the Book of Remembrance held therein.

The Musicians’ Chapel was established in 1955 in the Church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, Holborn, in the City of London, which is the National Musicians’ Church, to commemorate deceased British musicians and to house the Musicians’ Book of Remembrance. The Chapel was established around the grave of Sir Henry Wood, C.H., whose ashes had been interred there a decade earlier. Funds to establish the Chapel were raised by Miss Granger Kerr’s “Carnation” Fund, by a recital by Kathleen Ferrier and Gerald Moore and many other donations.

The purpose of the Musicians’ Chapel is to uphold the memory of British musicians and to maintain the Book of Remembrance. New names are inscribed each year into the Book of Remembrance and an annual Service, open to the public, is held when the new names are read out aloud. These and other events, together with collecting and recording of the names, are organised by the Committee of the Friends of the Musicians’ Chapel – a Registered Charity.

Friends of the Musicians’ Chapel pay annual subscriptions for the maintenance of the Chapel and the Book of Remembrance. The Committee assists with the upkeep of the Chapel and maintains the website of the Friends of the Musicians’ Chapel and the on-line Register of musicians inscribed within the Book of Remembrance.