Singing in a top choir

[Droogan]

This is my DC's ambition. Does anyone know whether most members of these choirs - eg The Sixteen, Tenebrae - will have studied at Conservatoire? And is being in the choir just a part of what they do to earn a living, and if so how do they fit other work around their choir duties? Interested in any practical info about joining or being in this type of choir. Thank you.

Often they are in multiple choirs (if you go to lots of their concerts you will start to notice the same faces popping up in the Tallis Scholars, the BBC Singers etc). They will also probably teach music/an instrument/singing and perform as soloists for more minor choirs for one off concerts. Most of them will have been choral scholars at university, and probably studied music, if they didn't study at a conservatoire. Hope that helps!

Thank you. Would be great to know more about the practicalities of it. If they are in more than one choir like this, you'd think that commitments would clash? And I wonder how easy it is to make a living this way.

That's why all of these choirs have a pool of singers. If one (or several) are already booked for another concert/tour, they go down the list until they have all the spaces filed.

How old are your DC op?

The ones I’ve met are ex-cathedral choristers, so immersed in music from an early age.

A friend of mine was in the Sixteen about a decade ago. He had been a chorister then a choral scholar at university and read music. Many of his colleagues seemed to have come via a similar route.