CHOIR SCHOOLS’ ASSOCIATION
CHOIR SCHOOLS’ ASSOCIATION
Patron: The Duchess of Kent
Committee:
Chair: Yvette Day, King’s College School, Cambridge
Vice-Chair: David Morton, The King’s School, Gloucester
Neil Chippington, St John’s College School, Cambridge
William Goldsmith, St George's School Windsor
Simon Larter-Evans, Tring
Richard Murray, Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford
John Attwater, King’s School, Ely
Gareth Doodes, The King’s School, Worcester
CSA Full and Associate Members
Ampleforth College | Lincoln Cathedral | St Nicholas Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne |
Bristol Cathedral Choir School | Lincoln Minster School | St Paul’s Cathedral School, London |
Chapel Royal, Hampton Court | Magdalen College School, Oxford | St Peter’s School York |
Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester | Merton College Oxford | St Peter’s Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton |
Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford | New College School, Oxford | St. Cedd’s School, Essex |
City of London School | Norwich School | The Cathedral School, Cardiff |
Croydon Minster | Old Palace School, Croydon | The King’s (The Cathedral) School, Peterborough |
Dean Close Preparatory School, Cheltenham | Reigate St Mary’s Preparatory and Choir School | The King’s School, Gloucester |
Durham Cathedral Schools Foundation | RGS Prep, Guildford | The London Oratory School |
Exeter Cathedral School | Ripon Cathedral | The Minster School, Southwell |
Framlingham College | Runnymede St Edward’s School, Liverpool | The Pilgrims’ School, Winchester |
Frideswide Voices, Oxford | Salisbury Cathedral School | The Portsmouth Grammar School |
Hereford Cathedral School | Saint Thomas Choir School, New York, USA | The Prebendal School, Chichester |
King’s Ely | St Edmund’s Junior School, Canterbury | Truro School |
King’s College School, Cambridge | St Edward’s College, Liverpool | Wells Cathedral School |
King’s Rochester Preparatory School, Kent | St George’s School, Windsor | Westminster Abbey Choir School, London |
The King’s School, Worcester | St John’s College, Cardiff | Westminster Cathedral Choir School, London |
Leicester Cathedral | St John’s College School, Cambridge | Whitgift School, Croydon |
Lichfield Cathedral School | St Mary’s Music School, Edinburgh |
The Choir Schools’ Association celebrated its Centenary in 2018.
55 schools in the UK educate some or all the choristers at cathedrals, churches or college chapels all over the country. Between them they educate more than 25,000 pupils, including some 1,200 choristers. Westminster Abbey Choir School is the only school in the UK to educate choristers and probationers only; Saint Thomas Choir School in the USA similarly only educates those who sing in the choir. The Association’s associate membership includes cathedrals and churches without choir schools.
Choir schools offer a very special opportunity for children who enjoy singing. They receive a first-class academic and all-round education combined with excellent music training. The experience and self-discipline choristers acquire remain with them for life. There is a wide range of schools: some cater for children aged 7–13, others are junior schools with senior schools to 18; most are Church of England but the Roman Catholic, Scottish and Welsh churches are also represented.
Most CSA members are fee-paying schools. Deans and Chapters may provide fee assistance, while Government support comes in the shape of the Choir Schools’ Scholarship Scheme. Under the umbrella of the Music and Dance Scheme, funds are available to help those who cannot afford even the reduced school fees. Government funding through the Music and Dance Scheme (MDS), along with other monies in its Bursary Trust Fund, is administered by the CSA. Applications are means-tested; awards are only made once a child has secured a place at a choir school.
Every year, members of the CSA are looking for children to join their various foundations as probationer (trainee) choristers. Many of these positions come with boarding options, which reduces the commuting commitment if you don’t live nearby.
Each CSA member school has its own particular admissions procedure for choristers, including musical and academic assessments. A number of foundations offer informal voice tests which enable the organist or director of music to judge whether a child has the potential to become a chorister even before the more formal process might begin. Sometime, a child may be offered a place immediately; more usually they will be invited to enter the more formal voice trial organised by the school, but sometimes too, a family may be advised not to proceed with an application.
A good chorister-applicant will show potential, a keen musical ear and an eagerness to sing. A clutch of music examination certificates is not vital – good reading skills, alertness and enthusiasm are! At the same time, school staff must be satisfied that a potential chorister would be able to cope with their school work and with the many other activities on offer, as well as the demanding choir workload.
Or make an enquiry via email: info@choirschools.org.uk