Singing out

Salisbury Cathedral’s own version of ‘The Voice’, which offers voice trials for new probationer choristers, saw five talented youngsters gaining chorister scholarships for next September.
The Cathedral also announced that it has broken with tradition and admitted four boys as full choristers after just five months as probationers themselves.

It generally takes about a year for probationer choristers to become full choristers but in this case all four boys were promoted in five months, joining a choir that is older than the Cathedral itself, and becoming part of a tradition that stretches back 900 years.

David Halls, Director of Music at Salisbury Cathedral said:
“I am pleased with the way these four boys have developed. They have worked really hard since September and become valuable members of our choral ‘family’. Being a chorister is hard work, but it is also good fun.

“This April, for example, we are touring to Austria, which will be quite an experience for those choristers who are going. They’ll be singing in some of Vienna and Salzburg’s most magnificent churches and doing some sightseeing in their spare time.”

The new choristers are:
Jack Maltby, who attended Pitton Primary in Salisbury before gaining his chorister scholarship to the Cathedral School; Rory Law from Warminster, Theo Price and Kavan Sathish, who were all bumped up in time-honoured fashion after Evensong on Saturday 19 January.

The youngsters gaining the chorister scholarships are:
Elliot Groillon from Harnham Junior and Alexander Lecher- Malloy from Pilgrims School, Winchester, who will join Year Five at Salisbury Cathedral School in September 2019, whilst Harry Mills and Luke Anderson-Diaper from the Cathedral School, and George Gostick from Durweston School will go into Year Four.

David Halls said:
“I am delighted to have been able to offer five scholarships this time round. Boys’ voices are breaking earlier so it can be a challenge keeping the boys choir up to strength. Luckily all of these candidates showed great promise when they did their voice trials, which is really heartening, and I think they’ll enjoy being part of our team.”

www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/worship-music-cathedral-choirs/choir-recruitment