In the video, the Duchess recognises the importance of our country’s long-standing choral tradition, and the comfort the familiar sound of choirs will bring at this time of year. She pays a special tribute to the hard work choristers have put in faced by the challenging circumstances of the pandemic, before wishing them a happy Christmas.
The Diamond Fund for Choristers helps choristers from all backgrounds pursue training in cathedral music. To coincide with the Duchess’ Christmas message, the boy and girl choristers of Coventry Cathedral, led by Director of Music Rachel Mahon and accompanied by organ scholar Harvey Stansfield, recorded a performance of ‘There is no rose’ from Benjamin Britten’s ‘A Ceremony of Carols’.
The Cathedral Music Trust’s Diamond Fund for Choristers has supported Coventry Cathedral Choir’s new entrants to the choir for the last four years and continues to do so.