Thank you for the Music

After recent voice trials attended by hopeful young singers from around the country, just five girls were chosen to join the Choir as probationer choristers in September 2019.

Two of the successful candidates, Rachel Fisher and Allegra Sturgeon, are already at the Cathedral School. The other three, Faith Gregory from Harnham Junior School, Ava Kadiri from St Osmund’s Catholic Primary School, and Amelia Parker from Bishop’s Cleeve Primary School, Cheltenham, will join them in the new school year.

David Halls, Director of Music at Salisbury cathedral School said:
"Since it was introduced in 1991, the girls' choir has gone from strength to strength and we have seen lots of exceptional applicants. These girls have done extremely well to earn their place and we look forward to seeing them at the end of the year."

All five new scholarship winners will attend Salisbury Cathedral School. They will start their chorister life attending rehearsals and services as observers, before moving on to 'sing in' and eventually becoming full choristers.

In April full choristers and adult singers from the Cathedral Choir will be going on tour to Austria, something the five soon-to-be probationers can look forward to when their time comes. The choir will be travelling to Vienna, Bratislava and Salzburg, singing in a range of venues and churches including the magnificent Salzburger Dom, which was devastated by bombing in 1944 and closed for 15 years whilst it was restored to its former glory.

In all, 40 singers will be involved in the tour - 14 choristers from the boys choir, 14 choristers from the girls choir and 12 adult singers – and although they will all work hard, the trip will include some sightseeing and well as performing.

Liturgy and Music Manager Andrea McDermott is responsible for tour logistics:
"It is quite a feat moving the choir around. I have a Brexit and a no-deal Brexit plan. With that many people on tour you can’t afford not to cover all your bases. It’s not just keeping track of people either; it’s the music, robes and personal luggage too. That being said, touring is great fun too and performing in different venues in different countries is good for the whole choir."

The tour starts in Vienna on 5 April and ends in Salzburg on 11 April. The Dean of Salisbury, the Very Revd Nicholas Papadopulos, will travel with the choir along with the Cathedral’s Music team and members of the Cathedral School and Chapter.

The last Cathedral Choir tour was to San Francisco in 2017.