Wondering how to get money off school fees? Does your child enjoy singing? Could they be a chorister in the making?
Several English schools were founded hundreds of years ago to educate the choristers of their city’s cathedral. While they have evolved over the years into fully-developed public schools in their own right with top academic, sporting, extra-curricular and pastoral provision, they still educate the cathedral’s choristers – and provide significant bursaries for them.
With rehearsals and services before and after school, at weekends and during the Christmas and Easter holidays, the life of a chorister is one of huge commitment, for parents as much as the chorister. However, it is also hugely rewarding.
Singing glorious music in the country’s most glorious buildings, not to mention international tours, with thousands of people listening in the congregation is an experience very few children ever get.
Combined with the life-skills developed through training and performing at an elite level that goes with it, being a chorister is the “biggest leg-up" a child can have in life, according to Alexander Armstrong, a former chorister himself, and with most choirs now having both boy and girl choristers, all children can apply.
All cathedral choirs welcome applications from all children. The process usually starts by attending a ‘Be a chorister for a day’ event which is like a taster day, followed by an audition. If successful, the child is then enrolled in the school, with a significant discount on the fees so that no talented child should be unable to join the school/choir.
Some of the country’s top cathedral choir schools:
Wells Cathedral School
Hereford Cathedral School
Exeter Cathedral School
Salisbury Cathedral School
St Paul’s Cathedral School
Westminster Cathedral/Abbey Schools
New College School, Oxford
Durham Cathedral Schools
St George’s School, Windsor
If you have a child who is interested in becoming a chorister, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. At TIEC, we can help match your child with the right school to support and nurture their talents. We believe that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential, and we’re committed to making that a reality. So why not give your child the chance to experience the joy of singing glorious music in the country’s most glorious buildings? We can’t wait to hear from you!
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