I was privileged to be able to attend a wonderful concert at Leeds Cathedral on Sunday 3rd November, at which many young singers from Leeds Cathedral Choirs were joined by members of the Sixteen and Genesis Sixteen to sing movements from Duruflé’s Requiem, Mozart’s Spatzenmesse and Anerio’s Magnificat. They had been working together throughout the weekend in a series of intense workshops, led by Tom Leech, the Director of the Schools Singing Programme and Eamonn Dougan, The Sixteen’s Associate Conductor, and others from the Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme. The organist for the concert was William Campbell.
Tom has written to me:
The Senior Boys, Senior Girls and Scholars of Leeds Cathedral Choir are a talented group of children who discovered their vocal potential while at primary schools participating in the Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme. They then joined the Cathedral’s Children’s and Junior Choirs and have since progressed through the programme, now giving frequent broadcasts on national radio and television – including BBC Radio 4 Midnight Mass this year – as well as singing for the regular services at Leeds Cathedral.I hope you might like to come and hear the beautiful singing of these talented and committed young people. I particularly wanted to invite you to enjoy hearing how the Cathedral Music Trust’s grant has benefited our choristers, they are sounding wonderful at the moment. I’m sure this is due, in part, to the improved access to singing lessons facilitated by Cathedral Music Trust.
It is so good to witness the continued efforts of the Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme to bring such a high standard of music making to so many youngsters in the Diocese – the programme reaches around 6,500 children across the Diocese every week in over 150 choral groups both during and outside the school day, including boys’ and girls’ choirs in Bradford, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Keighley, Pontefract, Ripon, Wakefield and Skipton, together with the choirs of Leeds Cathedral. The Diocese also operates a Keyboard Studies Programme offering the opportunity to learn a keyboard instrument to a further 1,500 children each week through whole class melodica tuition and accordion, piano and organ lessons.
Ben Saunders, Director of Music for the Diocese of Leeds, writes:
In addition to regular support from Cathedral Music Trust’s awards programme, Diocese of Leeds works with other arts organisations across the region, including as a partner with ArtForms to support music-making through the West Yorkshire Music Hub. Our model has also inspired the creation of the National Schools Singing Programme, which currently works with over 32,000 children across 35 dioceses and cathedrals in the UK.
by Rosemary Downey, Regional Coordinator for the North and West of England, and Wales.
