Wells Cathedral school - is being a chorister fun?

These documents look dense but are recent and have a lot of information . From their website. Maybe some insights here?

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Oh, I didn’t mean to imply that you did. I just meant that NYCGB is great but in a really different way because of how it works. So if a child wants more regular singing, it needs supplementation - like you say, with singing lessons or school choirs or whatever.

I wasn't suggesting that the NYCGB was enough on its own really, Obviouslynotnow (I don't think any of DDs friends there have it is as their only choir) but it is a nice adjunct perhaps to school choir and maybe other lessons, which could be 'enough' for some children without it having to be the full cathedral experience.

Ironically, our DD can't be in a church choir because we are churchgoers, but not at the sort of church that has a choir - which means she isn't free on Sundays. So she has to cope with choirs in school and saturday school (and singing lessons). It's just a different way of accessing singing.

@PickledCoelacanth

It's a shame about the demise of choirs. I work in the diocese bath & wells! There are (well precovid) around 100 full choirs and a few hundred voluntary choirs/singing groups left in England. My DD's were choristers at a large church and received payment for singing but attended local school

It already is in our cathedral - I’m surprised that isn’t always the case? Priority for congregation children and for those in the local church primary school.

I know a LOT of chorister parents and former choristers from a number of different cathedrals/churches. Remember that the adults get paid because of both the level of commitment and standard. Unless she is boarding, do not underestimate the commitment you, as her parents will have to make. I like church, enjoy music and have a faith. But even I don’t want to go to church everyday and 3 (not sure if Wells do Matins) sung services on Sunday. Little - no holiday outside of the summer because of the commitment required to Holy Week / Easter / Advent / Christmas. If you like going away or doing other things at the weekend, don’t do it. Also, given the recent report in the Church Times about Wells Cathedral I’d look at other cathedrals and major churches tbh.

While NYCGB is fantastic and my dd loves it, being a chorister is that week in, week out, experience of learning new music and singing it with a team of others you know well. She is in a good local church choir (quite a few of them have their Gold Award, so comparable standards to cathedrals), but that means ‘only’ one rehearsal a week, festivals and once or (usually) twice on Sundays. It works well for us, we would not consider boarding.

She really enjoys it, has made good friends and can sight sing pretty much anything! She’s also found it helps with instrumental skills, she picked up a new instrument fast, according to her teacher.

We are not a Christian family, and her choir makes it clear that is not required. And I do enjoy Evensong occasionally, purely for the music and the atmosphere.

I don’t think people realise it’s the child and their family doing the cathedral a favour really rather than the other way round!

You did get an additional bursary if a parent was actually in the clergy though at DD’s choir.

Are you actually suggesting that a family’s religious belief should be auditioned along with the child’s musical ability?

yes the music is beautiful. I live near a cathedral and the music is indeed lovely. But it’s music for worship isn’t it so surely preference should be for families who value that. As others have said there are amazing choirs to join at a high level for a talented musical child.

@Newgirls

It's a love if the music - there's an interesting book called the Christian Atheist which explores the pull of traditional church especially evensong to non believers.

Mine were choristers from 8-18 but not boarding, they attended normal state school. They loved it and one is currently studying music specialising in liturgical music

If they love singing there are other ways too - for example my dd is in the girls' section of the national youth choir, which she adores (and is residential courses in the holidays), if full choristership seems too much.

2 of mine were cathedral choristers. DH and I met in a cathedral choir, as did many of our friends! We are not a religious family, but the music is sublime. For the DCs, it is a way of life, they made great friends, many fantastic experiences (eg the singing for royalty, the foreign tours) and for many it's the start of a lifelong hobby or even career. Mine weren't at a choir school though and were 'only' there 4 days a week, so there was still time for other things. They each did it for 5 years, but knew they could stop whenever they want. DD stopped in lockdown, but now misses it. Many of my current friends met as choristers and we still sing together in our 50s (I didn't meet them till I was 18, but have been going strong since then!).

If your DD will enjoy the music, then it's a fantastic musical education, teaches responsibility with structure and routine. I'm not sure there is a 'type' of child that it will particularly suit (apart from needing to enjoy the singing) as there were all sorts in our choir. Although I do like the PPs comment about friendship of like-minded souls.

Not a specific type of child I mean.

I think I phrased that wrongly - not a certain type of child but it seems to suit the ones that like it! My daughter thrived on the long, very filled hours, the experience of being within the ensemble singing (she loves playing orchestra too, any solo work is a means to an end only) and the perfectionism of the process. Also the friendship of like minded souls.

That's interesting, I agree that the music is transcendent. What kind of child or personality would be suited @SwayingInTime ?🌻

I couldn’t disagree more with the poster saying that you need to be invested in the religion or worship. The music is transcendent on its own and there really is no comparable singing/ musical training at this age in any other setting. Whether you see that as necessary or valuable is another question but it suits a certain sort of child perfectly.

But why on Earth would you spend all that time in a place of worship if it isn’t meaningful to you? Not really comparable to performing a fictional role in an opera or musical.

I'd say to the OP that if she feels uncomfortable with organised religion, there will be more suitable activities. As a chorister, you spent a significant part of your childhood singing liturgical music and as a parent sitting trough many long services to support your dc. You'd have to love this to put up with it, not necessarily be deeply religious, but enjoy Christian worship, otherwise I will be a long hard slog for all of you.

I wasn't but spent a lot of time in Cathedrals and met my future husband in one (he was an assistant organist working with choir boys) and we know lots from other Cathedrals. I sing every day and enjoy a lot of choral music.

Most of the choristers we have known love it. It is however a big family commitment - eg you won't have a Christmas or Easter free and it will affect things like when you are free for family holidays etc so do decide if as a family you want that.

Even as the wife of an organist we never could have a normal Christmas - so I would be up after working to end of day on 24 Dec as a lawyer then wrapping up presents along as the children's father was out at mid night mass and the in the morning out he was again to play for the main services on 25th and only after that could a family Christmas begin. Never mind Easter week which is wonderful with all kinds of services and singing but can be a huge commitment.

Two friends Childrens did this as part of their scholarships, it does take slot of commitment and they had to attend services such as Christmas Eve and Day and other services, Easter etc, weekly attendance and more so before events, it did impact their family time a lot but they seemed to enjoy it. (Not at Wells - another Cathedral city with private school attached)

For choristers, it’s a good musical education, and often a passport to a heavily-discounted academic education at a highly-regarded school? For adults, unless they are believers, it’s pretty similar to singing ‘fiction’. For me, the Christian deity is a fiction that happens to have produced some magnificent music. Singing evensong in a college chapel is much the same as singing any other kind of choral music in any other venue, theatre, concert hall.

But why on Earth would you spend all that time in a place of worship if it isn’t meaningful to you?

not really comparable to performing a fictional role in an opera or musical 🙄