Presenter Profile
Professor Simone Krüger Bridge
Professor Simone Krüger Bridge is a highly distinguished senior academic, whose career in higher education has been marked by excellence in teaching, research and leadership. A committed advocate for choral music, she pursues longitudinal research into its enduring power to transform the lives of individuals and the communities they call home.
Flourishing through Choral Participation
This paper presents findings from a comparative study of choral partnerships across seven contrasting English cathedral and choral institutions. Using participant observation, interviews and documentary analysis, the paper illustrates how cathedrals articulate the educational and social value of their partnership work, how choral participation fosters belonging, cultural engagement and human flourishing among children, young people and adults across diverse communities, and how structural conditions shape the sustainability and reach of cathedral choral partnerships in a period of widespread pressure on music education and participation. The paper offers a timely, comparative contribution to debates on access, equity and the public value of cathedral music in England today.