Cassian is BBC Radio 2 Chorister of the Year!

Dean Close pupil and member of Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum, Cassian Pichler-Roca, aged 12, was announced winner of the boys’ category of the  BBC Radio Two’s Young Choristers of the Year, 2018 on 30 October.  Cassian made it through two rounds of recorded auditions to the finals alongside three other young singers from school, church … Continue reading →

CSA Centenary and 3 Choirs 2019

With a very successful Three Choirs Festival 2018 in Hereford under its belt, the festival team is turning its thoughts towards Gloucester 2019! The next issue of The Festival’s quarterly magazine Spotlight will include a piece by Clare Stevens reminding everyone CSA is still celebrating its Centenary! The choir schools involved with Three Choirs all date … Continue reading →

Ex Rochester Chorister Sings at WNO World Premiere

  Debut album ‘Materna Requiem’ by Rebecca Dale received its world premiere at The North Wales International Music Festival, held in St Asaph Cathedral on Saturday 22nd September. Edward Hyde was invited by the prestigious Welsh National Opera to sing as the treble soloist in an outstanding performance. Edward was BBC Radio 2’s Chorister of … Continue reading →

Introducing the new Willcocks Organ Scholar!

      The latest holder of the Sir David Willcocks Organ Award is 13 year-old Cameron Lewis, a chorister at Llandaff Cathedral and a pupil at Llandaff Cathedral School.       Thanks to the David Willcocks Music Trust CSA is able to cover six terms of organ lessons to a chorister who can demonstrate … Continue reading →

St John’s Cambridge Head to Lead Choir Schools

Neil Chippington, Headmaster of St John’s College School, Cambridge succeeded Paul Smith, Headmaster of Hereford Cathedral School as Chairman of the Choir Schools’ Association on 1 September in its Centenary Year. Neil brings a wealth of educational, leadership and musical skills to the role. He was a chorister at Winchester Cathedral and a pupil at … Continue reading →

King’s Ely & Cambridgeshire Music Join Forces

  CHILDREN with a passion for music are being given the opportunity to shine thanks to an exciting partnership between King’s Ely and Cambridgeshire Music. The school and Cambridgeshire Music, which is the county’s music education hub, have joined forces to launch the Ely Area Music Centre. The centre opens its doors on Saturday, September … Continue reading →

Mystery Artist leaves gift to St Mary’s Edinburgh

St Mary’s Music School has received the gift of a paper sculpture from Edinburgh’s Anonymous Sculptor whose works have intrigued the literary and arts world at home and internationally since the first one appeared in 2011. The sculptor, whose identity has remained a secret except that she is female, sent her latest work of art … Continue reading →

Salisbury – New Dean, New Choristers!

  The Very Reverend Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury, admitted his first new choristers to Salisbury Cathedral Choir at Evensong on Sunday 16 September. Charlie Scammell and Benjamin Edger, who joined the choir as probationers in September 2017, were ‘bumped’ in time-honoured fashion along with Zeeshan Mahmud from Southsea, who only joined the choir at … Continue reading →

Rochester appoints new King’s Scholars

  Earlier this month, six new King’s Scholars were entered into the Foundation of Rochester Cathedral in a special cathedral service led by the Dean of Rochester. The choristers of Rochester Cathedral are educated at King’s Rochester Preparatory School. Some go on to receive scholarships into the Senior School. The good news is that for … Continue reading →

SCF 2018 – Outreach and a ‘deeply moving performance’

Our final Southern Cathedrals Festival report continues with The Festival Eucharist on Saturday 21 July – a very grand occasion, featuring Widor’s Mass or Two Choirs and Two Organs sung by the combined boy choristers and gentlemen of Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester Cathedrals. The Preacher, the Very Reverend Mark Bonney, Dean of Ely, spoke eloquently … Continue reading →