| The Cathedral Choir |
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The Cathedral Choir sings services every weekday at 5.30 pm and twice on Sundays (Eucharist at 10.30 am and Evensong at 3.30 pm): click here for full details of this week/month's services. The Choir, uniquely in Scotland, maintainings a daily choral tradition and sings over 250 services every year. The choristers are educated at St Mary’s Music School, which acts as the choir school for the cathedral, again unique in Scotland. St Mary’s Cathedral became the first in the UK to offer girls scholarships to sing with the boys as trebles in 1978. The choristers are educated at St Mary's Music School, which also trains instrumental musicians. The back rows of the choir consist of professional lay clerks alongside undergraduate choral scholars who are typically on gap years or studying at Edinburgh University. In 2006 the choir again made the headlines when Judy Brown became the first female alto choral scholar.The choir is fortunate in being able to take advantage of its links with St Mary's Music School to provide instrumental accompaniment for concerts and occasional services, and has collaborated with a number of professional orchestras. It broadcasts frequently on BBC Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio Scotland and on television, and has made a number of highly acclaimed recordings on various labels. It has a busy schedule of concerts and, in recent years, has worked with the King's Consort, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and Ludus Baroque. During the Edinburgh International Festival, the choir is in residence, singing the daily services and broadcasting Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3, as well as giving a number of concerts in the Festival Fringe. Many of our trebles, choral scholars and lay-clerks have gone on to achieve successes in professional choirs and as soloists in their own right. Many leading composers have written for the choir including Kenneth Leighton, Francis Jackson, Francis Grier and Gabriel Jackson. Our recent Capital Commissions scheme has enabled the Cathedral to commission new works from such well-known composers as James MacMillan, Arvo Pärt, and Sir Peter Maxwell-Davies.The Cathedral Organ is a Father Willis, built 1879, for which a detailed specification can be found here or alternately you can go to the Organ Page. The Cathedral boasts a lively Old Choristers' Association. One of the St Mary's earliest choristers was also perhaps its most famous - the world-renowned opera singer Joseph Hislop. Click here for more information. |
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