Junior Choir

Boy and girl trebles aged 7-13 follow the Royal School of Church Music’s ‘Voice for Life’ scheme. This enables them to study for internationally recognized awards and helps them to build a solid and safe vocal technique. After passing different certification levels, the choristers receive a medal with the appropriate coloured ribbon (White, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Red and Yellow) which they wear over their cassock and surplice on Sundays to show their level of achievement. Once the choristers have passed all of these levels, they can train for higher awards including the Dean's Award and the Bishop's Award. These awards are presented at St Paul’s Cathedral.

 

There are no auditions for the juniors. The only requirements are for regular attendance at rehearsals and services and a desire to sing.

 

Rehearsals for the trebles start at 7.00 pm on Thursday evenings. The adult members join us at 7.45pm and the juniors finish at 8.30pm.

 

The juniors are trained primarily by the Director of Music who is an experienced vocal coach and choral conductor. Rehearsals involve training in voice, reading music fluently, sight singing and aural skills, and work towards the ‘Voice for Life’ awards. We also prepare a repertoire for the services and learn about the role of music in the liturgy.

 

Members of the Choir are also very active in the training of our young choristers. This allows training in small groups so that the children can work at their own pace and receive more individual attention. The juniors are paid for their participation in rehearsals and services on a sliding scale. The higher the award achieved in the ‘Voice for Life’ scheme, the more they are paid. If a chorister has full attendance for a six-month period, their salary is doubled!

 

So if you would like to learn to read music and sight-sing, receive free vocal tuition, sing some great music, achieve internationally recognized awards from the Royal School of Church Music, make some new friends and earn some extra pocket money, then please contact our Director of Music via the Parish Office.