The Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral
“... one of Scotland’s (indeed the UK’s) musical jewels...”
Gramophone
The Choir
St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral was dedicated in 1879 and choral music has been at its heart ever since. The tradition of singing regular weekday and Sunday services continues to this day, uniquely in Scotland. In 1978 the Cathedral admitted girls alongside boys as choristers. The choristers (aged 9-14) attend St Mary’s Music School - Scotland’s only choir school.
In addition to singing services at St Mary’s, the choir is well known for its recording work, concerts, and broadcasts. The choir regularly records with Delphian Records, with their most recent disc of Stainer’s The Crucifixion released in April 2024. Other recent recordings have included single-composer discs from Tudor England, Bruckner, Gabriel Jackson, Stravinsky, and Leighton, including three Gramophone ‘Editor’s Choice’ recordings. Music by contemporary composers is an important part of the choir’s repertoire. Many composers have written for the choir over the years, with recent comissions by Cecilia McDowall, Joanna Marsh, and Jaakko Mäntyjärvi.
The choir regularly broadcasts on BBC Radio including a live broadcast of Choral Evensong during the Edinburgh Festival and has toured many countries and venues in Europe and further afield, most recently to Germany in 2024.
The Cathedral regularly runs Come and Sing events for children and offers weekly singing classes to several Edinburgh primary schools. The choir is always keen to hear from parents of potential choristers; see Joining the Choir for more information about what this involves. Or, if you would like to know more about how you might be able to support the choir, please contact us at publicity@cathedral.net.
We are keen to stay in touch with former members of the choir; please see Former Choir Members for more information.
Chrism MassThu 19 Mar
To find out what music the choir is singing, see our Music List.
Cathedral Choristers
“I owe my entire career to my experience as a chorister. It was where ... I learnt the wonderful truth that something exceptional, something as beautiful as anything anywhere, can be created just by you and your friends.”
Alexander Armstrong, presenter and comedian
The choristers are the children (boys and girls P5-S2) who sing the top part in the choir's music, and generally perform up to five times per week during term-time with the adults of the choir, the choral scholars and lay clerks, plus rehearsals.
Becoming a chorister is a unique and life-changing experience for any child who loves music and singing. Choristers not only learn how to sing, listen, and read music; from a young age, they develop a sense of teamwork, improve their confidence, work on their language skills, and learn to produce results to deadlines.
More information on Choral Scholarships at St Mary's is available here.
Choral Scholarships
"The friendly, welcoming, and engaging attitudes of other musicians, and of cathedral staff, makes the experience one that not only allows you to better your understanding of the music, but also to become a better performer and worker in a more general sense."
Becky Fletcher, former Choral Scholar
A choral scholarship at St Mary’s Cathedral offers an unparalleled opportunity to sing with an internationally renowned cathedral choir, and to develop singing and musicianship skills through regular weekday services as well as concerts, broadcasts, recording and touring. Working alongside other students as well as more experienced singers, the cathedral is a welcoming environment for you to contribute to its tradition (unique in Scotland) of regular choral services.
More information on Choral Scholarships at St Mary's is available here.
Lay Clerks
The Lay Clerks are professional singers (so named since their job is to lead services like a member of the clergy - i.e. a 'clerk' - but without taking holy orders), combining professional work elsewhere with their singing at St Mary’s.
Vacancies will be announced here, and elsewhere on our website, as they become available. Professional singers with suitable experience who are interested in joining the deputy list should, in the first instance, email us with their CV.
If you would like to have an informal conversation with a lay clerk about the choir commitment, and living and working in Edinburgh, then please email publicity@cathedral.net.