Cathedral school/voice trials advice please

[MrsDenning]

My son is in year 1.

Can me advice on admission to a cathedral school.

Considering London schools/Canterbury.

Are the trials ususally when a child is in year 2 for entry in year 3?
A singing teacher recommendation would be appreciated. London/Kent

And any general advice.
Thanks

Thanks everyone Noted Angelicvoice, I will focus on Westminster Abbey. There is a very good local choir for children, not highly pressured and they can attend from seven once a week. Bearing in mind what you have all said about training his voice, would this be best avoided?

Get your child singing as much as possible but not in too specialised an environment. A church choir is fine but I would be wary about proper singing lessons. Sometimes its better to go to the choir school with no experience because if your child does well then they will think he must be good if he has not had any lessons.

Remember to choose a choir that you are happy to travel to at the weekend. Do you really want to be spending your life in London? In Kent area there is St Edmunds Junior School, King's Prep School and Reigate Grammar that are choir schools. Further afield is Prebendal in Chichester or St George's, Windsor. If you go to a site called choirschools.org.uk there is a map of schools.

Well I quite like London especially central, used to live there and miss it a bit. But thanks for the local tips I will have a look

You may love London but if you have the option is it really where you want your child at school? A choristers life can be quite stifling and the two London schools have such limited open space. At least a choir school outside with land and clean offers a nice balance for your child. It is very hard not get caught up in the presitge of the London Cathedrals however they do have major downsides.

My son was singing in one of the most famous cathedrals in the world but because of this their experience is not as broad. The university choirs only have an 8 week timetable which means they are touring round the world each year, which is a wonderful opportunity and your Christmas and Easter holidays are free. The repertoire is also more varied. The most famous establishments need their choir to be there all of the time so they actually have a less varied programme and a heavier schedule and rarely tour in the same way the other choir schools do - touring for the boys is exciting and rewarding after the work they have done throughout the term. It is well known that overtraining of the voice at the London schools have caused boys to have nodules on their vocal chords.

The question is why do you want a choir school and why would you pick a certain one. I was blinkered by the prestige of St Paul's and although the choir was fantastic the goal for my son was to receive an exceptional musical education in the most rounded environment possible and this does not happen in the major choirs in London. You may also notice that St P's and the Abbey never have boys in the Chorister of the Year Competitions because they do not have the time to individually develop boys voices in the same way that other choir schools do because they do not have the time.

If it is all about prestige then go for the London schools but if it is for lifelong pleasure and attainment and a child that is not completely exhausted then I would suggest a school outside of London.

AngelicVoice thank you for your post. No it is not about prestige at all, it is about a musical education and all the potential benefits while he is a chorister (if he is) and also hopefully for all of his life - principally an ability to participate in and appreciate music and pleasure for him. I do not have a musical education myself and I don't have any musical contacts, I am very grateful for this advice. I need to do more research. Thank you again.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the best options for a girl who is interested in choral singing? My 7 yr old (in yr 2) has been asking about this for 2 years. We signed her up for a local non-church choir which has been great plus her school has good music, but she still says she'd like to do more. She's heard top-class boys' choirs and that is what she likes ...

Anyway, I've tried to find out about the girls' choirs that exist and am thinking of visiting Salisbury to hear what they are like. If we went down that route she'd have to board but we'd be close enough to get to things regularly, I think...

My husband's started working in Birmingham (which has a girls' choir too but no choirschool), but at the moment we don't think we want to move there; her younger brother has just started at a choirschool and if he was interested/good enough for that choir it would be great if he could stay there.

I'm thinking I need to do a fair bit of independent finding out before I mention any of these ideas to my daughter!

Any advice? Anyone know Salisbury?

Wells has a girls choir - have you looked at that possibility? I have some experience of Wells School (good & bad) - CAM me if you'd like a little more info.

Does she want to be a chorister, or just sing in a chapel choir? My DD (now 18) is very musical and is now at Malvern College (for 6th form as a Music Scholar) where she is a member of 5 choirs (including chapel) and various music ensembles. That has been enough to focus her sights on a career as a classical singer.

We're based in Oxford so I was thinking Salisbury might be the closest option, but reviewing the distances I guess if we seriously decide to consider it we should look at Wells as well. Thanks for that.

YW Pythonesque - we've been through all this with DS (who decided he prefered rugby to being a chorister in the end) and DD - if you'd like any advice on the girl front (particularly if you want to look at Wells), please feel free get in touch.