Supporting St Paul’s great choral tradition
Every day a group of schoolchildren enter St Paul’s Cathedral. Off go jackets and backpacks, on come cassocks, ruffs and surplices. After a short rehearsal they troop into the cathedral, open their mouths and sing as one, giving voice to a tradition of choral music in the Church of England that has survived largely unchanged for almost 500 years.
The choral tradition is one of the sounds of Britain, it is the envy of the world. The Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars is now part of that tradition as we have just become a Chorister Medal supporter. I am very grateful to all those who have contributed so generously to allow this to happen. Our supported chorister is an eleven-year old who will form part of the new girls’ choir being created to run alongside the boys.
The cathedral believes that any child with a good voice should have the opportunity to become a chorister, ensuring that the life-changing experience is open to young people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Whilst many choristers go on to make careers in music, some excel elsewhere such as Sir Alastair Cook, the England cricket captain, or General Sir Peter Beale, who went from being Head Chorister to become the director of army medical services. Sir Peter observed that being a chorister taught him discipline and an ability to perform under pressure. Something that his son, Sir Simon Russell Beale, another head chorister, clearly learned too.
The Arts Scholar Chorister’s Medal was created by Oscar Saurin and is beautifully crafted in silver. Oscar is a Freeman of the Goldsmiths’ Company. Shirley and I were delighted to present the medal to the Company as a memento of our year as Master and Consort.
At a time when musical education in the UK is under real threat, St Paul’s is committed to creating the largest cathedral choir and chorister education programme in the world, transforming the lives of talented young people and offering music that enriches the lives of millions of others.
Roy Sully