Lincoln Cathedral Choir Association

 
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Can Girls be Choristers?

Yes!

 

Your daughter can be a chorister at Lincoln Cathedral - Lincoln is one of a growing group of cathedrals that now have either a Girls' Section as a part of their Choir, or a completely mixed choir.   Some other cathedrals operate voluntary mixed choirs in addition to their main choirs.

Lincoln, Exeter and Salisbury have independent Girls' Sections (depending on the Service, the Girls sing either on their own, or with the men (lay vicars or lay clerks), or, at major festivals, with the Boys' Section and the Men. The Boys, for their part, sing either on their own, or with the Men, or with the Girls and Men.

Girls' Section at Lincoln

avalon summerfield, alice jones lydia lallemant

Cope Girls Avalon Summerfield, Alice Jones and Lydia Lallamant

 

                                                   

Cope Girls Anya Ertmann,  Sophie-Dominique Waddie, Ffion Frazher and Zoe Dawson

 

Aric Prentice BA (hons) MA  directs the Girls' Section of the Choir and is Director of Music, both at the Cathedral and at Lincoln Minster School.  He is a counter-tenor and frequently performs at recitals throughout the country.

Lincoln Cathedral was one of the first to establish a Girls' Section. Under the guidance of the Precentor, Revd Canon Andrew Stokes, it joined the cathedral foundation in September 1995. The first auditions for Girls were held in April and then in June of that year.

The Girls now contribute equally with the Boys and Men, to make up an overall Cathedral Choir of some 50 voices. Most services are sung either by the Girls and Men, or by the Boys and Men, although the entire choir comes together for major festivals and concerts.

The Girls released their first CD in 1999, which included a new work composed by the counter-tenor Nicholas Snookes; - Spanish Agnes Dei for trebles and alto solo. Senior chorister Martine Lyons, reached the final round of the Scouller Competition with a composition for organ.

A Day in the Life of a Chorister:

"We wake up and start the day with an hour's rehearsal. This always starts at 7:55 a.m. After that, all of the choristers have a full day of school. When school has ended at 3:40 it's off to choir to start again at 4:00 p.m.. Another hour's rehearsal for evensong, and at 5:30 p.m. the service begins. The choir sings responses, psalms, canticles and anthems every evensong. At 6.15 p.m. choir has finished for the day and it's time to go home.

At weekends  we sing some or all of the services; -  this can include Saturday evensong, and Sunday Eucharist + Mattins (8:30 a.mm - 12:15 p.m.) and  Sunday Evensong 2:15-4:30 p.m. As you can see it takes a lot of time, rehearsals and commitment, but it is loads of fun as well!

Sometimes we perform concerts around the diocese, and tours at home and abroad (Salisbury, Belgium, and the Czech Republic in the recent past). The Girls' choir has made a CD, sung for her majesty the Queen, recorded BBC Songs of Praise and a Radio 3 Broadcast.   These were all very successful and a lot of fun.

So a day in the life of a chorister is quite busy, but the time and effort are well worth the training and most of all the FUN!"

(Rachel Line)

 

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Read more about the History of the Choir

Be A Chorister For A Day - an opportunity for children who may be interested in becoming choristers to have a day experiencing the life of  a cathedral choir, and joining in the singing of evensong.