David Fawcett
@choralwork
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Building a junior church choir, and want to work with others to use choirs to rejuvenate the church and deliver its mission to and through young people.
Swanage, Dorset
Joined September 2010
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Pinned Tweet
If you agree that the Church can be rejuvenated, and the future of church music secured, by getting children back into church choirs, then join Raise your Voices, a new network on LinkedIn, sharing initiatives and mutual support RaiseYourVoices
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@campbellclaret
So Starmer has had this letter in his back pocket for two days, allowing Sunak and his team to lie repeatedly on the record, before releasing it the morning after the televised debate. High stakes game, but rather nifty politicking. Bang to rights.
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When the church choirs we sang in as children were swept away, to ‘make worship more accessible to young people’, did the Church feel that we were the wrong sort of young people? The sort that valued quality and integrity in liturgy, and engaged actively? What was wrong with us?
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Of all the hundreds of tweets about the unjust discrimination against choral singing, I have yet to see a single response from
@OliverDowden
,
@DCMS
or
@DCMSArts
. The silence is deafening. Not even ‘we acknowledge your pain’. It’s like...they just DONT CARE.
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I look at this photo and inside I weep, not just for my own lost youth, but for a Church which allowed this choir to be swept away by liturgical fashion in the 80/90s...and all in the cause of making church more accessible to young people. Oh, the irony. The deeply sad irony.
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Churches say: we can’t find anyone to lead our music. Well, no surprise: we’ve lost 2 generations of young musicians since church choirs were dismantled from the 1980s onwards. It will take vision, cash and time to regrow the ecosystem: a Movement, as in the 1850s. Who’s in?
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I spoke to a primary school Head today, offered to form a choir, learning to use voices well, to support sung assemblies and link to other music opportunities in the town, including the church choir. A resounding YES in response. Linking church and school brings benefits to both.
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Seven choristers at Eucharist this morning, outnumbering sopranos. They had written the intercessions, read them and the Lesson, and interacted with the sermon. 10 parents in church to hear them. Growth through music, numerical and spiritual.
@JonathanTriffit
@lucybmoore
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I was a
@DCMS
official for 6 yrs, Principal Private Secretary to 2 Secretaries of State, Con and Lab. But I have never been so ashamed of the Dept’s continuing blind spot for amateur musicians, and its Ministers’ neglect of them. Shame on you,
@OliverDowden
!
#DCMSNotHereForChoirs
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Alongside the focus given to the precarious state of music departments in many of our cathedrals, might we also spare time to consider how best to sustain and grow back choirs in our parish churches, reversing decades of decline?
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Churches are about faith, but also about mutual support. Church choirs are about worship, but also about developing and using skills in God’s service. At a time when few kids can access good free music tuition, the Church should be proud to provide it, and do more, everywhere.
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Church choirs up until the 1980s: bringing families into church and training the next generation of music leaders. Churches in the 1980s: choirs are old-fashioned - away with them. Churches in the 2020s: where have the young families gone? And why can’t we find an organist? Duh.
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A current Oxbridge choral scholar tells me he started out in his local parish church choir. I reflect that if he had lived in the town where I was a chorister, 40 years ago, he would not be where he now is, as that choir is lost. Think on that, and about the whole choral ecology.
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More theories about kids: They like structure. They love theatre and dressing-up. They hate too much adult talk. They loathe poor imitations. So why would they not prefer an active role in meaningful
#liturgy
, singing real
#music
not some cheesy pseudo-pop?
#YouthMinistry
#CofE
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Holidays meant no sopranos turned up to choir this morning. But five junior choristers did! They held the line, read the lesson, interacted with the youth minister’s talk. Growing in learning, growing as musicians, growing as leaders, growing in faith.
#MusicAsMission
in Swanage.
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Just look at this. Started from nowhere, and look where it has gone. Testament to hard work in areas that could so easily have been overlooked as ‘not fertile ground’. Quite the opposite. It can be done and it MUST be done.
@lucybmoore
@JonathanTriffit
When
@benvonbergclark
joined
@SJDK_music
@SJDKennington
there were no children in our choir- this clip gives a tiny taste of the crazy joyful time that our kids have had being part of
#ChurchChoir
🥰
@SouthwarkCofE
@churchofengland
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Although my junior choir was not officially on duty at church today, I was delighted to see one of them in the congregation this morning and another, with his parents - not previously churchgoers - at Evensong. THAT’s what happens when you get kids engaged with church music!
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Last night, belting joyfully through Stanford in B flat with junior Choir, 9yo boy, less than a year in the choir, pipes up with glee: ‘Next time, can we do the one that goes..’ and gives me the first line of Noble in Bm, note and pitch perfect. THAT’s when I love my job!
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Church choirs used to be the great social leveller in music. Tens upon tens of thousands of children from diverse backgrounds receiving regular, free music tuition from an early age, more than state primary schools could provide. What if we reinvented that opportunity for today?
I am so thankful I had a family who, despite being poor, made sure I was given every opportunity to have a career in music. I feel for talented kids who can’t pursue careers due to financial hardship. We must always support and nurture talents from deprived backgrounds.
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@Keir_Starmer
@liturgicalben
@guildhallschool
Great that you are speaking up for music education. Music for life needs to start at primary level, however, and few primary schools are staffed to deliver it. Please talk up church choirs, which can help fill the gap, as one did for me and for very many children
#RaiseYourVoices
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I feel conflicted about the well-supported campaign to save St John's Voices. When will those big names demand something must be done to reverse the loss of kids from parish church choirs? Is the survival of church music as a whole less important than saving one Oxbridge choir?
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Before our last Evensong of this term involving our junior choir, we celebrated their growing contribution to our church life and music with games and a party, and a new official choir photo. You can just see on our faces the joy that they bring to our church.
#MusicAsMission
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It is great to see how boys are carefully managed as their voices change, to keep them engaged in church music through to adulthood. Unless more boys are recruited and retained, the shortage of tenors and basses will only get worse.
Many congratulations to our two outgoing Head Choristers, who were valedicted on Easter Sunday following six years as Choristers. We look forward to welcoming them back as Junior Choral Scholars in the new term.
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I’m going to take a break today from advocating for children in parish church choirs, lest those who think it’s a lost cause think I’m having a laugh on 1 April. I’m not, you know. It can be done, if we decide it must be done. RT if you are with me in this movement.
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DON’T patronise children and young people. They can ‘get it’, more readily than many older people who are stuck in ‘know what I like’.
This, so many times over. Our kids are fans of Poulenc and McDowall and Gjeilo and Croce because they have opportunities to get up close to their wonderful music.
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I’m having really productive conversations about what we might expect cathedral music teams to do to support rejuvenation and growth in parish church choirs. What about Oxbridge colleges? Who should I speak to, who is interested in strengthening the whole church music ecosystem?
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I speak to so many church leaders who say, yes, I started out as a chorister too. When did we forget that the choristers of today can become the church leaders of tomorrow? When did we start to disdain this key pathway as 'just about the music'?
@GrowingFaithFdn
@lucybmoore
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We need more
@ChoirChurch
everywhere. Children making music used to be at the heart of many worshipping communities, and we need to rebuild that direct and purposeful link to children and families if the
@churchofengland
(among others) is to have any future.
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My seven junior choristers (7-12) continue to astound me. We had ten minutes left at the end of rehearsal so I gave them the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria, in the plan for a concert in November. Five minutes later they knew it, loved it, and were clamouring to sing through it again.
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Is it any surprise that
@DCMSArts
is silent on Twitter since March and
@PermSecDCMS
since Sept 2020, despite the crisis
@DCMS
is unnecessarily inflicting on amateur choirs? Confirms my personal recollection from within of a Dept that cares nothing for amateur music-making.
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More parish churches could be brave and do this too, working with local schools.
We held a Taster Session for children wanting to consider being a Cathedral Chorister. Great to see so many boys and girls.
#ChoirChurch
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Five of our junior choristers sang an introit written for them, at Choral Evensong last Sunday. Another highlight in their growing contribution to the worship and prayer life of our church.
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@Iabourite
As someone has already pointed out, there was huge class snobbery about Sky TV back then. No well-to-do parents would want one of their then huge dishes on their house. Not going without, just straight up classism. Poor little rich boy, wanting to be down with the council estate.
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CofE 1980s: Let's sweep away traditional forms of worship, music and choirs to make our services family-friendly. So that went well.
Swanage 2022: Let's start a Junior Choir, singing real music and learning new skills, giving families a reason to cross the church threshold.
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So thankful this evening for my junior choristers, six of whom (ages 8-12) joined the adults at Choral Evensong and sang the first verse of Rutter’s ‘Thy perfect love’ alone, with commitment and assurance. They are stamping their mark on the ministry of this parish!
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We got through a lot of music at Junior Choir practice last night, preparing for Choral Evensong with the children at the end of the month. But made time to ensure they know what the Trinity is. They are also now on nodding acquaintance with the Cherubim and Seraphim.
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What I fear will happen next is that general restrictions will be lifted, but discriminatory
@DCMS
rules remain in place for choirs. We have a couple of weeks to demand equality. Let’s shame
@OliverDowden
for his neglect so far. Let’s trend the hashtag
#DCMSNotHereForChoirs
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The great news about my attempts to break the status quo, and get more children singing in church choirs, is that people of influence are starting to ask: ‘What can I do to help?’. Yes, please, do ask me that. If I don’t have an immediate answer, I’ll think of one. Ask me now.
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Church music dies in the same way, when you refuse to accept that children can enjoy singing in Latin, in the Dorian mode and without gratuitous syncopations.
#RaiseYourVoices
fwiw, I think this is how classical music dies. Not its ageing audience, not the price of tickets. Telling people that its not for them, that they will find it too difficult and should stick to something simple.
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We all big up our junior choirs, all the time. But last night was special. Full turnout of 7. All singing out, confidently and on pitch, even the one who hadn’t been secure in his head voice. New girl joining in with beaming smile. Balanced, powerful singing. Deeply affirming.
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When I see adverts for choral scholars in cathedrals, I reflect on how much easier it would be if the pool of committed young church musicians were larger and more diverse. Sow the seeds of renewal at parish level, and all will reap the benefits. Including a rejuvenated CofE.
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Oh those stuffy, old-fashioned robed choirs. Watch this and eat your words! Joyful. I'm going to
@SJDKennington
next time I'm in London - get me topped up with the Spirit!
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Here we go again. Some ill-defined threat to one cathedral’s choir and the whole establishment is up in arms, articles in CT and newspapers, ‘loss of family life’ etc. And of countless parish churches, family life lost by dismantling of choirs for decades? Not a peep. Sigh.
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No child enters church a fully-formed disciple. They do craft, play games, dress as a shepherd. Do we disdain this as ‘just about the craft/games/dressing up’? No, we call it mission, steps in faith. So why question the motives of kids in choirs? Why the double standards?
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It's hard to get children back into church choirs. And expensive: to provide 12 kids with music and robes c. £4.5k, before any music leadership costs. Music as Mission needs investment, as it did when these 20 boys came to church 4x a week until the choir was lost in the '90s.
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One of my favourite cathedrals has just celebrated ‘rural life’ in a service sung jointly with the choir of a £7.8k-a-term private London school. What am I missing? Were no rural choirs available that day? Few, maybe, but perhaps more in need of celebration and encouragement?
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How many separate books does your adult
#choir
need in a
#church
service? When involving
#children
I make up one folder for each with all they need (and nothing else!), spoken words and music, in order. They know what’s next, and start to internalize the liturgy.
#ChoirBuilders
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@Aiannucci
@colla_voce
What would Malcolm make of Kemi Badenoch’s rapid blinking when put under pressure in interviews?
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A great testimony to the power of rebuilding music ministry around children and young people, growing disciples and creating life-enhancing pathways for young musicians.
Rehearsal time & 🤯❤️. Cannot say how proud I am of my team & this choir, especially these girls. Just stepping into this space for the first time & filling it so naturally. It’s moments like these I realise, against the odds, what we’ve built in
#Ipswich
🙏🏻
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This morning I heard that the CofE had acknowledged the stupidity in the 1980s of trying to make church family-friendly by disbanding choirs involving children. And that it would now focus strategic funds on rebuilding children's choirs in parish churches.
And then I woke up.
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Always great to see this. I still don’t get why each cathedral in the land doesn’t invite choirs from its parish churches to such an annual event. Such an obvious way to show solidarity with us. We are part of the same ecosystem and we will only survive together.
We were pleased to welcome visiting singers from across parishes the diocese joining our Cathedral Choir for an Easter Carol Service
#HeIsArisen
@CofEPortsmouth
@JonathanHFrost
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So good to see. What if this were widespread in parish churches again? Would go some way to addressing loss of music opportunities in state schools, rejuvenating the church and strengthening the church music ecosystem. Win-win-win.
Lovely to have the
#choristers
back after their Easter break. We had promotions, appointed new head choristers, a group photo & the baby fan club!
@RSCMCentre
@dioceseoflondon
@churchofengland
@rtjbrain
@SouthgateChoir
@_cathedralmusic
@TheOutsider40
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A joyous sight and sound. All cathedrals should be encouraging and supporting parish churches to use choirs to grow active discipleship of the young. Need these inspiring events annually, everywhere.
@bishopsarum
Last Sunday we welcomed over 220 singers from 14 parish choirs from across
@SouthwarkCofE
joined forces with our Cathedral Choir to sing a special Festival Evensong. The service was part of our new Music Outreach Project.
🔊 on to hear the last 'Amen'...
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One of the most heartening tweets (are they still called that?) I've seen in a long time. Listen up everyone! MUSIC AS MISSION: Choirs can revitalise churches, driving growth and rejuvenation. Great to see it recognised and supported. All credit to
@stgilesfields
St Giles in the Fields is pleased to announce a £15,000 grant to St Nicholas North Walsham, in the Diocese of Norwich, to support the development of the parish choir. For details of our grant giving scheme, please contact the Rector.
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If you believe that music has a big role to play in bringing children back into the Church of England, sign up for this CofE network which in four sessions, starting this week, will feed into a report into Growing Faith through Music:
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Amen - whether in our cathedrals or parish churches.
Happy Easter 🐣
We hope all those that contribute to our cherished choral and organ tradition can enjoy a well-deserved rest over the break 🎶
📸 Choristers
@Bfdcathedral
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Clergy and others who plan worship/liturgy: if you want your
#choir
to be a source of mission and growth, esp among children and families, make sure its role is valued and skills used in the liturgy. Give it space to contribute to worship, beyond leading congregational singing.
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@KadiatuKM
@AnnaCPage
Need the new government to get a grip quickly on the perilous state of music provision in much of the state education sector,
@lisanandy
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Brilliant initiative
We're looking for a Choral Director for Schools to join us in delivering our Music in Schools programme and directing the Cathedral Junior Choir. This is an exciting opportunity to join a busy and ever-growing department.
@nationalssp
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If you tried to build a choir as strong as this (from ‘80s) in your average parish church - though with a mix of boys, girls and sopranos/altos on top - getting kids in would be hard work, for sure. But the showstopper? Men. Because all those here are former choristers.
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In those days, tradition dictated a boys choir. Nowadays, it would be boys and girls, as is the Junior Choir we launched this year in Swanage (9 members and growing). Youth ministry? There you have/had it!
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Liturgical drama. Now there's a thing we could do with a bit more of in many churches nowadays. Something of mystery, in a world of mission statements. Combine it with good music, and it could even get children and young people back into church.
#MusicAsMission
#RaiseYourVoices
A Glimpse of the Divine.
"The screen itself was both a barrier and no barrier. It was not a wall but rather a set of windows, a frame for the liturgical drama, solid only to waist-height, pierced by a door wide enough for ministers and choir to pass through".
Eamon Duffy.
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@tnewtondunn
What struck me about the first instance of this was the ridiculously small bet and return. It was like the money didn't matter - it was just the sheer pleasure of CHEATING. No surprise, but not a good look, as you say.
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How do we ensure our church junior choir is about more than music? By wrapping it round with other types of ministry. We provide context for what we sing. And our kids go on from rehearsal to a club with our Youth Minister, for pizza, fun and prep for upcoming services.
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This is what we need: partnerships between cathedral choirs and choirs in the rest of their dioceses. There is so much to be gained on both sides.
A pleasure and privilege to perform along side 3 fabulous choirs (Barry Ladies Choir, Sŵn Y Gân and Risca Male Choir) in the Usk Choral Festival this afternoon.
36 choirs in four days - what a fabulous celebration of choral singing in this area!
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Tonight at Evensong, the sermon was preached on the text, ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’. My ear heard the Spirit say to my church: ‘Let those young choristers minister to my people through music, and start their own journeys of faith.’
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Super to see pathways of faith and music opening up for these youngsters.
Evensong tonight is sung by the Junior Choir, our pre-chorister for children aged 5 to 9. Join us at 5.30pm to hear these fabulous young voices.
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Every time you see a
@DCMS
or
@DCMSArts
or
@OliverDowden
tweet with the hashtag
#HereForCulture
, please RT with the hashtag
#NotHereForChoirs
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My article for
@MusicTeacherMag
about the value of schools and churches working together to grow opportunities in music for children and young people.
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Growing connection to children and families through church choirs. Let's have much more of it.
@choralwork
@frjrconnell
@ChurchinWales
@JesusOxford
A major area of growth & mission is through choir. Last year we had a recruitment drive with a cohort of new choristers & families who support them. We recognise the +very benefits of our choir to the vibrant life of our church
#music4mission
. Pics from our week
@DerbyCathedral
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In marketing my junior
#church
#choir
to non-churchgoers, my recent experience is that it works best when children themselves hear about the choir - via a friend, or a flyer at school - and tell their parents, not vice versa. So I keep marketing child-friendly.
#ChoirBuilders
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On this Resurrection morning, may we who work in the Church commit ourselves in the coming year to find something we can each do to change the context, and so help increase the number of children leading sung worship in our parish churches.
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It's important to have a route through from junior choirs, full choristers, youth choir, into choral scholars and adult singers. The full progression is needed, to keep young people singing into adulthood.
The Cathedral Consort is our Youth Choir for those aged 13-18. Many of its members are former choristers, but others join as teenagers and build new friendships in the choir. The group goes on regular trips and socialises with other choirs.
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THAT’s better! A cathedral making an effort to open new pathways.
Very good to see
@GuildCath
Choir working with a local State Comprehensive School: great to broaden experience of the wonderfully rich tradition of church music
@_cathedralmusic
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Ok, here’s an off-the-wall suggestion to the
@churchofengland
, which wants to double children in church by 2030: what if expenditure in pursuit of this aim, like building a junior choir or running a youth group, could be netted off a church’s Parish Share?
@GrowingFaithFdn
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@DJ_Renney
Whenever the church tries to get closer to ‘popular culture’ in worship it falls embarrassingly short, and only alienates those who it already has. But sweeping away children-rich choirs in order to appeal to young families takes the biscuit as far as muddle-headed thinking goes.
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When building a junior church choir, be bold: normalise the ‘weird’ as quickly as possible, until it is accepted without question. Don’t patronise children by assuming they can’t embrace the unfamiliar, and learn to love it.
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More of this, please, from choral societies all over the UK. Make a link with one or more local schools or church choirs, offer some support to prepare them, then give the kids a platform in your next concert. We start our concerts at 6.30pm to involve younger kids in 1st half.
Godalming Children’s Choir are offering an exciting experience to local children. All 7-11 Year olds are invited to sign up to sing in the GCS concert in June this year. This is a chance to discover what it is like to be part of a choir and the thrill of a public performance.
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Great for
@Queenschoir
. Don't overlook the good you can do with this at grassroots, helping local schools and churches to reconnect children with choral singing. Your place at the top of the pyramid needs a strong structure beneath, if you are to find choral scholars in future.
We are thrilled to announce a £6.3 million gift towards music at Queen’s, ensuring that the choir has all necessary funds to continue sharing our music with audiences here in Oxford and around the world.
Read more:
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This is wonderful and far-sighted. In the Movement in my head, every choral institution, college or cathedral, would take responsibility like this for securing the whole ecosystem of church music, from the humblest to the greatest, and so secure the future.
@choralwork
@SJCChoir
has an excellent partnership with the choirs of St John the Divine Kennington, supporting children’s choirs and keyboard tuition
@SJDKennington
@SJDK_music
@Vicky_ljohnson
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THAT's the attitude. I don't care if my choristers 'can sing' or not, when they arrive. It's my job to help them develop what skills they can, at their own pace. Meanwhile, they can grow in faith and in engagement with liturgy and the church. It ain't 'just about the music'!
@choralwork
It still is in Spalding, where the church choir is recruited from local comps as well as the grammar, and no one is turned away. The choirmaster believes everyone can sing!
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