St Mary’s Cathedral is always on the look out for able singers to join its acclaimed choir of women, men, boys and girls. If you are a singer with some choral experience, wishing to join a choir of welcoming singers, singing a huge range of music from the medieval to the present, then contact Frikki Walker, the Director of Music on music@thecathedral.org.uk.
Rehearsals are on Thursday evenings from 7.15pm – 9.15pm, and there are two services on Sundays; Sung Eucharist in the morning and Choral Evensong in the evening. In these busy modern times, membership and commitment are necessarily flexible, by negotiation with the Director of Music, but it is a requirement that most singers commit to a high percentage of rehearsals and services.
We are also happy to receive applications from boys and girls aged between 7 and 14 to join the hugely successful ranks of young choristers.
Rehearsals for the choristers (boys and girls)are on Thursday evenings, from 6.00pm – 8.00pm, and they sing one Sunday morning service and one Sunday evening service each month, as well as the occasional special event (concerts, broadcasts and recordings), so membership of the Choristers of the Cathedral Choir does not need to mean that children can’t sing in their own church too. Neither are there commitments every weekend as there are in many other church choirs.
Choristers receive an all-round musical, social and spiritual education, and are trained through the RSCM’s Voice for Life scheme; so far we have achieved a 100% pass rate in these nationally recognised awards, with most candidates gaining merits or distinctions. We have also had a chorister qualify for the finals of the BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year.
Former choristers have also gone on to win choral scholarships to major Universities, including Cambridge (Trinity, Jesus and Gonville & Caius colleges), Oxford (Christ Church Cathedral) as well as at Glasgow and Aberdeen and Durham Universities. Former choristers have also gained places to study singing at the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music in London, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. One chorister has also gone to sing with Genesis 16, the training choir for the world famous choir The Sixteen, and another has gained a Choral Scholarship, as a tenor, to the choir of Gloucester Cathedral.
There are social events, too; ceilidhs, trips out, and general fun is had by all, both in rehearsals and in leisure time.
If you would like to find out more, please contact the Director of Music, Mr Frikki Walker on music@thecathedral.org.uk.