Choir Schools Association Centenary Evensong

Centenary celebrations got off to a very moving and uplifting start on Wednesday 9 May. The combined voices of choristers from St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, King’s College Cambridge and Salisbury Cathedral’s girl choristers  blended beautifully and gave us a very special Evensong to mark The Choir Schools’ Association first 100 years.

There are so many to thank who helped plan and execute this wonderful occasion. It was the brain child of former Chairman Roger Overend who firmly believed that Evensong was the most fitting way to celebrate not just CSA’s birthday but 1400 years of choristership.

Thank you to The Dean and his excellent team at St Paul’s Cathedral for allowing us the privilege of holding the Service in this marvellous building, and for their immaculate planning.

A special thank you to all the singers and to Andrew Carwood for the superb way in which he ensured perfect harmony throughout. Not forgetting Simon Johnson on the organ!

Thanks to CSA colleagues who worked tirelessly to bring this about and to those who read lessons and prayers. A special thank you to Ndiana and Grace representing current choristers.

The Reverend Richard Coles was a very welcome preacher – thank you Richard!

To our guests who enjoyed it with us and all those who supported under the Dome.

Last but not least, thank you to Richard Shephard, himself a former CSA Chairman, who composed such wonderful canticles for the occasion. The CSA Service looks set to become a fixture in cathedral repertoire!

CSA 2018

Today CSA is a public voice for choristers and is proud to be part of today’s music education world. It runs its own Bursary Fund as well as administering government funding through the Music & Dance Scheme, helping more than 100 children each year.

Thousands of former choristers are out in the workplace. Some are household names like cricketer Alastair Cook, while many others reach the top of their profession without necessarily achieving great fame. Today’s choristers receive a first-class academic and musical training and much of the teaching expertise available to them is increasingly shared with local school children through a host of superb outreach programmes run by cathedrals and choir schools.

Lots more to share!

We will be sharing lots more photographs and news from CSA’s Centenary Conference soon.