Welcome from our new Chairman

It is a great pleasure and honour to be Chairman of the CSA for the next two years. I warmly welcome those who are new to the Association and hope that they will quickly feel fully embraced by us. I thank Elizabeth Cairncross for all the wisdom and guidance that she brought to the Association during her time as Chair and am delighted that she will be working as Vice-Chair during this academic year. There is much in the following pages to indicate the important role that the CSA fulfils in so many ways.

It is a time to reflect and sing aloud the great work done by our cathedral choristers and choir schools week by week. Choristers have a good influence on other pupils; they earn respect and their presence dictates that music forms part of the daily routine and ambience of our schools.

Part of our mission statement is that we will ‘support and promote music for Christian Worship in the Cathedral Style’. As music in many parish churches has declined or moved towards more modern genres, and as we hear that more and more people are travelling some distance each week to attend cathedral services for the music, it is vital that we are able to maintain the performance of high-quality music to enhance worship, even though it continues to come at a high cost.

There is so much about which we can be proud, but I wonder at times whether we ‘blow our own trumpet enough’ about that which we take for granted day by day.

There is a diversity in styles of choir schools, but we all speak with one voice about the opportunities available to the young boy and girl choristers in our midst. We are a provider of excellence, not only in terms of singing but the education available at our choir schools. Our numbers seem buoyant, despite economic difficulties over the past two years and we remain the envy of the world when it comes to choral singing for young people.

We are indebted to the Government for continuing to support the Choir School Scholarship Scheme, part of the Music and Dance funding, which is a welcome and important contribution towards safeguarding our choral heritage. The CSA administers this national scheme on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE).

A focus for the CSA at the moment is to look for ways of adding funds to our own Bursary Trust, to safeguard the future so as to be able to continue to support choristers and their families.

We are also looking to secure the support of wellknown and influential people from all realms of life, who would be happy to speak with warmth about choristership, either through personal experience or because they have a deep love of the English Choral Tradition and value the power of music.

As Christmastide approaches once again, our cathedrals, abbeys, minsters and college chapels will resonate with the familiar songs of joy announcing the birth of our Saviour. But in all this paean of praise and wonder, let us remember to celebrate and thank our Cathedral musicians and choir schools for the work that they will have done day by day all through the church year.

Much joy will have been brought to so many through services, broadcasts, concerts, recordings and tours. The choristers themselves will have gained so much through the music they sing, the prose they read, the beautiful architecture they see each day and the opportunity of working in a close-knit professional team. As an association, it is not only our responsibility, but an enormous pleasure to be part of this life-changing experience.

 

Business as usual… HRH The Duchess of Gloucester popped in for tea with staff at St Paul’s Cathedral School earlier this term and eavesdropped on a choir rehearsal before Evensong. Photo: Graham Lacdao

CSA 2011 CONFERENCE IN YORK

Conference delegates with CSA Patron, The Duchess of Kent

Alex Donaldson, Headmaster of The Minster School, and his wife Jane organised a superb programme for the 2011 conference in York. Our speakers were Professors Graham Welch from the Institute of Education and David Howard, York University; and Dr David George from Gifted and Talented.

We were particularly delighted to welcome our Patron, The Duchess of Kent, who gave us a moving and clear insight into the achievements of her charity Future Talent. Thank you Alex, Jane and all our speakers!

Ready to take the hoist up York Minster’s East Front to inspect work in progress and to enjoy fantastic views of York.

Dinner guests from left to right: Frank Dobson MP who had a fund of stories for after dinner entertainment; Bridget Whyte, former Ambassador’s Delegate for Sing Up; Elizabeth Cairncross, Headteacher of Wells Cathedral School with The Very Revd Keith Jones, Dean of York Minster; Matthew Owens, Director of Music at Wells Cathedral and President of the Cathedral Organists’ Association. All photos: KT Bruce

The Duchess of Kent with Elizabeth Cairncross, CSA Chair 2009–11 and Roger Overend, current Chairman.

 

Showcasing New Anthems

It has taken eight years to bring together a collection of contemporary anthems fit for a queen. Choirbook for The Queen was launched at Southwark Cathedral on St Cecilia’s Day in November to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty in 2012.

The book, in two volumes to avoid heavy weight when being held by singers, has been described as the equivalent of The Eton Choirbook compiled for Henry VII and still in use today. It has many generous sponsors, not least the Friends of Cathedral Music whose Chairman Professor Peter Toyne is also Chairman of the Choirbook Trust.

The Prince of Wales is Patron of the new book which the Queen had requested should be ecumenical. All the works have been composed since the Golden Jubilee a decade ago and contributors include John Tavener, John Rutter and Judith Weir.

Master of the Queen's Music Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was at the service to hear his anthem Advent Calendar sung for the first time in public. The text is a poem by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

The idea for the book came from former BBC controller of music Robert Ponsonby and includes 44 anthems of which eleven are new commissions. The works will be heard next year during the live broadcasts of Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3. The Advent Calendar anthem will have its broadcast première in December 2012 at the conclusion of Jubilee Year.

Choirbook for The Queen: A Collection of Contemporary Sacred Music in Celebration of the Diamond Jubilee (Canterbury Press £30)

www.choirbookforthequeen.org.uk

 

Spotlight on... The King’s Singers

Anyone of a certain age watching or reading about the recently released film Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy can’t fail to think back to the TV version of John Le Carré’s masterpiece with Geoffrey Burgon’s haunting Nunc Dimittis.

Anyone of a certain age watching or reading about the recently released film Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy can’t fail to think back to the TV version of John Le Carré’s masterpiece with Geoffrey Burgon’s haunting Nunc Dimittis.

Singing Out tracked down Paul Phoenix, who sang the treble solo and is now one of The King’s Singers. He recalls:

“In early 1979 I was an eleven year-old chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral with a keen interest in football, and a less than keen interest in learning the piano.

“One Sunday, after evensong, Barry Rose (then Organist and Choirmaster at St Paul’s Cathedral) took me to his house to sing for Geoffrey Burgon, as he “might write a piece for me”. So, with no idea what was going on, I stood by the piano and sang with Geoffrey playing the trumpet and scribbling down a few ideas on manuscript paper.

“A few weeks later I was at the BBC, recording a theme tune for a TV series, about which I knew very little, and which I was told I wouldn’t be able to watch as it was past my bedtime!

“Working with Geoffrey was an absolute pleasure, he was a kind and generous man, and I feel deeply honoured to this day, that he wrote the Nunc Dimittis for my voice. I had no idea at the time that the legacy of the piece would still be with me, and follow me around the world. Occasionally at King’s Singer concerts, I still sign old copies of the Nunc Dimittis, lovingly preserved on vinyl. It’s a shame that the much-loved and admired original music was not used in the latest film. Although I know how very proud he was of the Tinker Tailor association, his output was considerable (including the theme for another hugely popular TV drama Brideshead Revisited) and performances across the year keep his memory alive.

“I have much to be thankful for, when I think of the “start” that both Barry Rose and Geoffrey Burgon gave me, and I shall always remember that day I first witnessed the collaboration between one of the world’s greatest choir trainers, and a truly gifted composer.”

The King’s Story…

A group of choral scholars from King’s College in Cambridge started performing together in 1965 but it wasn’t until three years later that they settled on the name The King’s Singers. Since then there have been just twenty members of the group, many of whom were previously choristers, choral scholars or lay clerks at a cathedral foundation.

The King’s Singers “remain consummate entertainers”. Most of the current line-up were choristers or lay clerks. Top left: Paul Phoenix (chorister, St Paul’s Cathedral); to his right David Hurley (chorister, Winchester Cathedral). Bottom row from left to right: Timothy Wayne-Wright, lay clerk at St George’s Chapel, Windsor; Christopher Gabbitas, a former lawyer; Philip Lawson (lay clerk, Salisbury Cathedral) and Jonathan Howard (choral scholar, New College, Oxford).

The original line up was: Simon Carrington (chorister at Christ Church, Oxford), Al Hume (chorister, King’s Cambridge), Brian Kay (who has enjoyed a hugely successful broadcasting career), Martin Lane (chorister, Christ Church), Richard Salter (chorister, Exeter Cathedral) and Alastair Thompson (chorister, Westminster Abbey). It was a busy life: reading for a degree, singing six days a week in the College Chapel and often performing at dinners and balls in and around Cambridge.

Simon Carrington, now a Yale professor emeritus, says: “My 5 years as an extremely average chorister at Christ Church were of immense value to me as I look back. Like so many of my kind, I learnt my trade under the age-old jump-in-the-deep-end system. When I left Christ Church I was probably a better sight-reader than I am now.”

They made their London debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 1 May 1968. The early ‘70s saw a growing number of UK engagements and forays into Europe. The opportunity of a 35- concert tour in Australia and New Zealand in 1972 helped them make the decision to become a full-time group. And so the international, tv and radio career took off.

Bill Ives (Grayston Ives, chorister at Ely and Director of Music at Magdalen College for 18 years) replaced Al Thompson, who wrote as he left: ”I have seen it grow from nothing. Some say that we provide pleasurable, if detached, entertainment; others that our obvious personal enjoyment expands to involve the whole audience; even more describe our concerts as a great outpouring of fundamental humanity; and then there are those who feel that the group’s recordings and concerts demonstrate that vocal music (not everybody’s cup of tea) can be enjoyed rather than endured, that “classical” formats and music can be fun, not stuffy.”

Many other familiar names have sung with the group including: Jeremy Jackman (chorister, St Paul’s), Bob Chilcott (chorister, King’s Cambridge), Gabriel Crouch (head chorister, Westminster Abbey).

“The superlative vocal sextet”

They continue to enthrall audiences worldwide, have a hectic recording schedule and have been hailed as “arguably, the most popular a cappella group of all time”.

A new recruit…

New Zealand-born baritone Christopher Bruerton will be the the first-ever foreign national to join this great British institution, when he takes over from Philip Lawson, who has been with the group for 18 years.

His first official duty will be a tour of Australia and New Zealand in February, including performances at Sydney Opera House. Later in the year they will be at Carnegie Hall, New York and then the Philharmonie in Berlin.

The 27 year-old was a chorister, choral scholar and bass lay clerk at Christchurch Cathedral in New Zealand. A trip to Oxford in 1999 fuelled his dreams of becoming a professional singer in the UK and last year he returned and became a bass lay clerk at ‘the other’ Christ Church.

 

 

HRH Princess Alexandra meets Hereford Cathedral Choir at The Guards’ Chapel, London when they sang the Advent Carol Service in aid of the Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust. Lessons were read by former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion, Antiques Roadshow expert Bunny Campione, Radio 4 presenter Francine Stock and Algy Heber-Percy who is Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire.

 

 

For the Record

Singing Out is sorry not to have reported Ella Taylor’s triumph as Girl Chorister of the Year 2010 in BBC Radio 2’s annual competition. Belated congratulations to Ella, 16 at the time, and a chorister at Sheffield Cathedral, who received a trophy and appeared on various programmes on the BBC Network alongside Boy Chorister winner Liam Jones from Durham Cathedral.

 

 

Elbow in concert for choristers

On 27 October 2011, BBC Radio 2 presented Elbow in concert at Manchester Cathedral. This concert is one in a series of contemporary concerts hosted by Manchester Cathedral over the last two years. These have helped raise money for bursaries enabling children who can sing to become choristers.

On the night, the Bury band Elbow performed tracks from their Mercury Prize nominated album, Build A Rocket Boys!, in the medieval setting of Manchester Cathedral, to a national and international audience. They were joined by the Hallé Youth Choir who sang with the band in songs from their award-winning back catalogue from the early 1990s.

The Dean of Manchester, The Very Reverend Rogers Govender, having made the formal welcome of the evening, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Elbow to a church where music was part of its Royal foundation 600 years ago. They are a magnificent live band and the Cathedral setting lends itself to their stirring and anthemic music brilliantly.”

The evening was presented by Jo Whiley live on Radio 2 and it was also broadcast live on TV via the BBC Red Button and the Radio 2 website www.bbc.co.uk/radio2.

Outreach in Devon

Devon’s Chorister Outreach Project, a joint initiative between Exeter Cathedral and Devon Music Service, is now entering its 5th year. Despite the withdrawal of government funding it continues to flourish thanks to donations and support from local trusts.

Since starting, more than 90 primary schools across the county have taken part with activities culminating in a concert, when children team up with the Cathedral choristers and the Devon County Junior Choir. More than 2500 children have worked under the baton of Stephen Tanner, Assistant Organist at Exeter Cathedral and Director of Music at Exeter Cathedral School.

Devon is a large county and many of the children who take part have never visited the Cathedral before. There is always great excitement on Outreach Day as they all gather together. The choristers also enjoy their visits to local primary schools.

The Devon County Junior Choir started with just 12 children in September 2007 under the direction of Rachel Smith, Assistant Director of Music at ECS, and a conductor of the National Children’s Choir of GB. It now boasts a membership of 45 children, drawn from about 30 Devon schools and meets on Saturday mornings for a 2-hour practice.

Rachel has now been joined by David Davies, Assistant Director of Music at Exeter Cathedral, who conducts the DCJC Boys’ Choir, while Rachel conducts the DCJC Full and Girls’ Choirs. Her high expectations have enabled the children to excel and as a result the choir has been invited to participate in a number of high profile events, singing in concerts with Will Young, Haley Westenra and The Kings’ Singers in Exeter Cathedral.

They have also performed at local festivals and joined with Cornwall Junior Choir, Hampshire County Children’s Choir, South West Camerata, Isca Voices, Exeter Philharmonic Choir and Exeter Festival Chorus for combined events. In November, it joined the latter and Bath Camerata for a performance of Bob Chilcott’s Salisbury Vespers.

They have also recorded their debut CD With Priory Records. A Sequence for Devon includes a major work of this name by Andrew Millington, Director of Music at Exeter Cathedral, and a range of music from Mozart to Lloyd Webber and some Christmas items. The children are particularly proud of the end result and copies can be ordered via the DCJC website: www.dcjc.org.uk

 

Vocal Health - care of the voice

This is the last of a series of articles by Dr Jenevora Williams looking at how the voice works, vocal development through childhood and adolescence and how to look after your voice.

What is vocal health?

A healthy voice will be able to function at its optimum. An unhealthy voice may have audible huskiness, breathiness or a creaky quality; it may have a limited pitch range, limited vocal loudness or limited stamina. It may be uncomfortable to use, sometimes becoming less comfortable over time. We all at some time suffer from ill-health which affects our voice. The cause of voice loss may just be as a result of the common cold, or it may be the way we use our voice, our lifestyle or as an indirect result of anxiety levels.

Why healthy voice use is important?

The voice is our primary communication tool; however, we tend to take it for granted unless it goes wrong. Voice problems affect both singing and the spoken voice and so reduce our ability to communicate in any aspect of our lives.

Voice problems in children

Voice disorders are surprisingly common among school-age children. Up to 20% of children have what would be clinically defined as voice disorders, although most of these cases are never referred for clinical treatment. Most get better as the child grows, and use and function develop. However, if a child has a problem with their voice, it will affect many aspects of their life. They will be less able to project their voice socially, in sports or singing/acting. This can have a negative impact on their self-esteem and could have an effect on their overall development.

If children have voice problems, poor singing technique is rarely the cause; it is nearly always as a result of either over-use or mis-use elsewhere, or triggered by high levels of anxiety in the child. Whatever the cause, the first casualty will be the child’s singing; this is probably the most demanding area of voice use, and so will need to be rested. It is crucial to help children to establish good habits of voice use when speaking, singing or shouting; it is of limited use to give a child good singing technique if this is not applied on the football field! Good habits include voice use, voice awareness, related vocal health and general wellbeing.

Causes of voice problems

Stress on the voice is measured as Vocal Loading, it is increased by three main factors:

Amount of use; the number of hours you are speaking or singing relates directly to the number of vocal fold collisions in a day.

Level of use; louder voicing requires the vocal folds to collide harder (think of the difference between clapping your hands quietly or loudly, then clap them loudly for a minute and see if they feel sore or hot).

Emotional stress, which is often less easy to identify or deal with. Anxiety creates tension in the voice and is therefore less efficient and prone to greater loading.

As well as these internal aspects there are external factors such as room acoustics or pollution levels.

If a child develops a voice problem, it is useful to know that the cause is rarely one single factor; it will be a combination of several factors all contributing to the voice use, often with anxiety or stress as the final straw. Becoming aware of how you and your students use your voices as well as identifying good and bad environments for teaching can help you to have long and healthy years of speaking and singing!

Some common problems and suggested solutions

Problem –
The need to raise vocal volume

Children may have to speak in large rooms; even in the most disciplined classroom environment, there will always be a low level of background noise. In social situations, there may be a high level of background noise from television, music or other people speaking. School dining halls are often one of the noisiest places in which to try and have a conversation.

Solution

Limit the amount of talking you do, be aware of the fact that you may be having to raise your voice.

Problem –
Not enough variety in voice use

Children can fall into the habit of using a higher-impact voice quality than is necessary. Prolonged use of a hard tone not only reduces the effectiveness of communication, but it also tires the voice.

Solution

Explore different voice styles for different situations. Firstly, try to establish the child’s own neutral voice quality; then experiment with voices suitable for different situations: private chat, speaking on the phone or calling out during sport. When singing, try and aim for the singer to never sing at maximum power; even for very loud passages, 95% is enough.

Problem –
Voice use while under emotional stress

If the speaker is under emotional stress, the muscles of the larynx are not working as efficiently, and the voice user is more prone to fatigue or injury. This single factor is the most common link between children who suffer from voice disorders.

Solution

There are many ways to reduce stress levels; an easy one is to focus on low belly breathing. Breathing out tends to favour the parasympathetic (everyday bodily function) nervous system and breathing in is linked with the sympathetic (fight/flight) nervous system. Try breathing out for a count of eight and in for two or three; keep moving the breath throughout, don’t hold your breath at all. If you consciously breathe out for twice to three times as long as you breathe in for, you will help to redress the balance between these two systems. Controlled breathing can reduce the heart rate and calm you down – no wonder people find that singing makes them feel good!

Problem –
Speaking or vocalising during physical exercise

Physical exertion tends to rely on constricting the throat; this is not the time to use the voice.

Solution

Save the vocal noises until after you have done the lifting or reaching for something. This is important during sport, try to encourage the child to stand still for the shouting and then to keep silent during the actual running/jumping/kicking/ catching.

Problem –
Exposure to irritants

No – this doesn’t refer to other children! It is to do with levels of dust or certain art materials. Some people are more sensitive than others to particles or pollutants in the atmosphere.

Solution

If the singer is sensitive to dust or pollen levels, they may use an asthma inhaler. If dust levels are bothering you, they are likely to be bothering others also and probably need to be dealt with.

Problem –
Poor acoustical conditions

Classrooms, school halls and even music practice rooms have seldom been designed with the acoustic properties of the room in mind. If a room or hall has large, hard surfaces (walls, ceiling, floor), these will reflect sound around the space and increase the overall noise levels. On the other hand, some sound reflection is useful; for example, voices will be very hard to project in open-air spaces such as the playground or sports field.

Solution

If you are in a boomy room, curtains, rugs, pictures, books, cork boards, soft furnishings or screens will help to absorb or dissipate sound. The voice can easily be amplified by using cupped hands as a megaphone.

Lifestyle issues affecting vocal health for all singers: teachers and pupils

Eating and drinking

Firstly, remember that you can’t ‘soothe’ your voice by drinking or sucking anything at all. Anything you swallow will pass over the top of the epiglottis and into the oesophagus (tube to the stomach). If it touches your vocal folds you will cough; if liquid was able to go into your larynx, you would drown!

It is important to keep the body hydrated. If the throat is dry, or the cells of the vocal folds themselves are under-hydrated, then they will be more susceptible to injury. It is also important to keep swallowing as the lift-and-squeeze action redistributes the laryngeal mucous and lubricates the vocal folds. The little-and-often rule is a good one; try to keep a bottle of water on the go, sipping instead of gulping. Children’s lack of access to water in schools can be an issue to be aware of.

Sweetened fizzy drinks, milky drinks, chocolate, yoghurt etc may encourage temporary mucus production in the throat for some people; if this is the case, avoid them immediately before and during singing. However, their effect will wear off after about half an hour; any build-up of mucus for longer than this is likely to have another cause.

Throat pastilles and lozenges have a very limited use. Ones which have a dehydrating (Menthol) or numbing effect (Strepsil) are best to avoid before or during singing. Others work merely as a placebo, or at best they encourage frequent swallowing. Don’t over-value them: sipping water is cheaper and just as effective.

Try not to eat just before going to bed; eating a large meal late at night can encourage gastric reflux which can ‘burn’ the lining of the throat. Try to allow at least two hours after a meal before going to sleep.

Medications

Antihistamines can have a drying effect, check with the pharmacist.

Asthma inhaler – it is important to use a spacer. This ensures that the larger (and ineffective) particles don’t get into the respiratory tract.

Decongestants used for longer than five days can cause problems as the membranes adjust to the medication. Topical decongestants (nasal sprays) tend to be better for singers than those in tablet form.

Cough medicines: avoid ones that contain codeine (drying effect) or antihistamines.

Look at the reasons for the cough – it may be a dry atmosphere, asthma or gastric reflux.

Some anti-inflammatory nasal sprays can be a topical irritant for the vocal folds.

Pain-killers with aspirin or ibuprofen will thin the blood and may possibly increase the chance of vocal fold haemorrhage (NB this is very uncommon). It may be better to stick to paracetamol if it is needed.

Anti-depressants and betablockers will cause dryness in the mouth and throat. Excessive coughing or throat clearing may be habitual or it may be symptomatic of other issues such as rhinitis or reflux. Coughing or throat clearing is a forceful action of the vocal folds; when you feel the need to cough, try sipping a little water.

What to do when the voice goes wrong

Voice first aid

Rest your voice! If you feel you’re losing your voice, or sounding husky, the first thing to do is try to keep quiet! Avoid noisy environments and cancel social engagements (unless it’s going to the theatre/ cinema).

Steam! Fill a bowl with boiling water, put your head over it with a towel over your head and breathe slowly until the water isn’t steamy any more.

Sleep! Losing your voice is not only inconvenient it can also be very stressful. A few early nights may be all you need to get back on track.

If the voice doesn’t get better in two to three weeks, you may need a referral to a voice clinic; this is normally done through a GP.

Golden rules for all voice use

Water is the best drink for singers (tap or bottled). Have a drink of water as soon as you wake up in the morning and keep a bottle on the go during the day.

Warm up before you use your voice each day.

If you are ill or tired, you will not be using your voice as efficiently; stop if you feel strained.

Be aware of how you use your voice at all times, not just when you are singing.

You are more likely to get ill, or use your voice less effectively if you are stressed or worried; so try to chill out!

Sleep is the best cure for many problems.

 

 

Ely's National Quiz win

Ely Winners: Edward Birchinall, Isaac Bateman, Harry Joel and Felix Asare with the Rochester Quiz shield.

Every year, teams from choir schools compete in the Rochester General Knowledge Quiz. This year’s winners were the team from King’s Junior School in Ely with a total score of 251 points (out of 300), 18 points ahead of runners-up, Lichfield Cathedral School.

As well as receiving the magnificent Rochester Quiz shield, the four boys won a cheque for £75 to spend on something for Choir House to be enjoyed by all the Ely boy choristers.

Congratulations also to Simon Astwood from Lichfield with a top individual score of 80 (out of 100) and to Charlie Abbott from St Cedd’s School in Chelmsford who received a special award for his score of 62 – he is in Year 5!

Top Five Schools
1. The King’s School, Ely
2. Lichfield Cathedral School
3. The King’s School, Peterborough
4. Salisbury Cathedral School
5. St Paul’s Cathedral School

Top Three Individuals
1. Simon Astwood, Lichfield
2. Helena Mackie, Salisbury
3. Hugh Chilcott, St Paul’s Cathedral School

Fourteen schools entered this year and CSA is very grateful to Geoffrey Hammond, Deputy Headmaster at The Pilgrims’ School, Winchester, for setting and administering the quiz. We would love to see lots more schools join in next time so look out for more details in early 2012.

Check out the quiz and have a go yourself!

 

Changes at the helm

•The CSA Committee said farewell to Peter Allwood in the summer when he finished his tenure as Head of Lichfield Cathedral School. He has been succeeded by Michael Chanter, Senior Deputy Head at Kent College since 2007.

•Samuel Hudson, a former organ scholar at Wells Cathedral has become Director of Music at Blackburn Cathedral.

•Christopher McElroy, Deputy Director of Music at Leeds Cathedral, is moving to The Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool in January. Tim Noon has moved to New Zealand and is now Director of Music at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland.

•The new head of Runnymede St Edwards School, Liverpool is Bradley Slater who was Deputy Head of St Ambrose School in the city. Sally Carter has returned to the West Country where she is still teaching.

CSA Composer 2011

The annual Chorister Composition Composition was won by 14 year-old Isaac Milhofer, a pupil at Bristol Cathedral School, with his setting of Keep me as the Apple of the Eye.

Adjudicator Alison Cox, Head of Composition at The Purcell School, said: “A really beautiful, expressive setting of the text. I’m so impressed by your understanding and use of harmony, your treatment of the voices and your creativity with choral textures.”

Joint runner-up was Georgia Darke, a Year 5 pupil at Salisbury Cathedral School and the first girl to be a winner in the competition. Again, Alison was very pleased with her carol Shine out on us, complete with piano accompaniment.

Also selected as a runner-up was 11 year-old Francis Bushell from St John’s College School in Cambridge. Alison enjoyed marking his setting of Keep me as the Apple of the Eye and commented on three things in particular – the relationship between the instruments and voices; the use of imitation and counterpoint; and the variety and interest in the harmonic colours throughout the piece.

Well done everyone who had a go. Each year we see a small increase in the number of entries and the standard continues to rise. Details about the next competition will be announced in early 2012.

 

Salisbury’s Boy Bishop

Twelve year-old Freddie Foster, Bishop’s Chorister (head chorister) at Salisbury Cathedral, assumed the role of Boy Bishop during Evensong one December Sunday in the annual reconstruction of a medieval ceremony.

Around the time of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the Church hierarchy was reversed: a chorister ascended the Bishop’s throne and the Bishop took a lower place. This happened during the singing of the Magnificat with its revolutionary proclamation ‘God has put down the mighty from their throne and has exalted the humble and meek’.

The ceremony is a lesson in humility and recognition of the wisdom of youthful innocence. In medieval times the Boy Bishop would have taken office from the Feast of St Nicholas (6 December) to the Feast of the Holy Innocents (28 December).

On Sunday 4 December the new Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, gave his staff and ring to Freddie, dressed in replica Bishop’s regalia, and installed him on his throne. As Boy Bishop, Freddie led the prayers, blessed the congregation and received the collection, as well as writing and delivering the sermon.

The service is also an acknowledgement of the important part the boy choristers play in the Cathedral’s musical life. David Halls, Director of Music, says “This is always a special occasion as it throws into the limelight the superb job the choristers do for Salisbury Cathedral day by day.”