Founded October 1874 Choirmaster Justin Miller | Organist John Wilderspin Founding October 1874 | |
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Origin Worcester Cathedral, England, UK Associated groups Worcester Cathedral Choir,
Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir Website www.worcestercathedral.co.uk | ||
Worcester cathedral voluntary choir
The Worcester Cathedral Voluntary Choir is an Anglican choir made up of boy trebles and male voices. The choir is based at Worcester Cathedral, Worcester, United Kingdom and regularly sings at the 6:30pm Sunday Evensong.
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History
The choir was founded in October 1874 primarily to sing at the newly formed 6:30pm Sunday Evensong and to sing other services for the Cathedral Choir during school holidays. Since its inception, the choir has been under the direction of the Cathedral's Assistant Organist, and currently has an organist of its own, who has taken on the additional role of secretary. Although the choir also gets time off during school holidays, it still sings at a number of important services each year during the school holidays, including the Palm Sunday morning Eucharist, and Midnight Mass maintaining some of its original aim of relieving commitments from the Cathedral Choir.
The choir has released two CDs in recent years, and sang in the live BBC television broadcast of Christmas Day morning Eucharist in 2007.
The choir has also been on a number of tours, including to Paris in 2008 and Belgium in 2010 and 2014, singing at Notre Dame Cathedral, Brussels Cathedral and Ghent Cathedral.
Today
The choir is now notable for being one of the last remaining English cathedral voluntary choirs to be made up of entirely male voices, and still routinely sings the 6:30pm Evensong on Sundays. The choir's treble line is composed of boys aged 6–14, whilst the lower parts are made up of men, some of whom previously sang as trebles. Today the choir numbers approximately 35 singers. The internationally renowned tenor John Mark Ainsley, was a member of the choir for some months.
The choir is affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM), and many choristers and men take exams and receive RSCM awards as recognition for their achievements. The choir also sings at the annual award ceremony for the Diocese of Worcester.
At various services each year, the choir sings alongside the Worcester Cathedral Choir, creating a more substantial sound than from either choir on its own, or creating impressive, multi-directional soundscapes in the cathedral.