Church Choir Award Enriches Local Music-Making

£30,000 invested in seven places of worship, enhancing choral and organ music across the UK

The Church Choir Award, in partnership with the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM), recognises outstanding music-making in places of worship across the UK – giving choirs the opportunity to enhance their impact. The award is designed to support choirs which sing less frequently than the choral foundations usually supported by Cathedral Music Trust’s main grant programme.

Thanks to the generosity of our Friends & Patrons, this year’s grants support a range of initiatives including provision for changing voices, choral scholarships and outreach work in schools and communities across both the Anglican and Roman Catholic traditions. Alongside financial support, all seven choirs will also benefit from a year’s group membership of the RSCM and access to their groundbreaking Voice for Life Digital Resources.

Hear from this year's recipients

St Thomas-on-The Bourne, Farnham

“This £5,000 grant will enable us to expand our department and recruit a vocal coach. This will support all our singers, particularly those going through voice change. With a recruitment video we can get the word out into our local community and attract a wider pool of choristers.”

St Mary's, Aberdeen

“This award of £3,600 will fund choral scholarships. Choral scholars will enrich and enliven the cathedral’s volunteer choir – they help us learn new and more challenging music to improve the standard of our performance and enhance the liturgy at the cathedral.”

St George's Cathedral, Southwark

“We are extremely grateful for this award of £2,900 which will enable us to expand our music provision for younger children, helping to foster a love of sacred music from an early age and widening access to the choral tradition.”

St Patrick's Church, Huddersfield

“This award of £6,000 will have a transformative impact for the choristers at St Patrick’s RC Church, Huddersfield, raising aspirations and enhancing achievement by ensuring access to the same quality of educational and performance opportunities available to Cathedral choristers”

St Alphege Church, Solihull

“This grant of £6,000 will enable us to initiate four junior school choirs, and sustain rehearsals throughout this academic year, preparing for three events. This will be used as a recruiting ground for the St. Alphege Church Choirs, which we anticipate will grow significantly as a result.”

Holy Trinity Church, Coventry

“This gift of £4,000 will be vital as we continue to build our parish choir, developing musical depth, whilst enhancing our present diversity of choir members. The professional experience of two choral scholars will bring strong choral awareness, encourage our existing choir and attract future choristers.”

All Saints', Leamington

“This award of £2,500 ensures that music can remain an essential and cherished part of life at All Saints'. It allows us to provide more appropriate resources and training for our Choral Scholars, to grow our choir, and to maintain a consistently high level of music-making throughout the year.”

View full details of the grants