LINCOLN CATHEDRAL can be celebrating a milestone in its musical history this weekend: the thirtieth anniversary of the introduction of girl choristers. They first sang on 21 November 1995, St Cecilia’s Day, the festival around which this weekend’s celebrations have been planned.
Colin Walsh was the Master of the Choristers under whom the change was made. Boys had sung since 1265. Lincoln followed Salisbury in pioneering equal opportunities for girls and boys, who were educated on the Cathedral School.
At the time, the introduction of women was still latest enough to be considered by some a sacrilegious move; there was a lingering perception that girls’ voices couldn’t match boys’ in purity. There was also parental anxiety that the move might diminish boys’ opportunities to sing.
The present Director of Music and Master of the Choristers, Aric Prentice, took over in 2003. By then, the ladies had enough repertoire under their belts to sing half of the time. There are actually 20 boys and 20 girls in a single cathedral choir — there isn’t a “boys’ choir” and “girls’ choir” — and, reflecting on those early perceptions, Mr Prentice said: “My general view has at all times been that 20 different children sound different from 20 [other] children. It’s not a lot an element because the age at which they’re singing.”
The choristers are actually drawn from 17 local schools. Services are equally divided between the boys’ and girls’ sections. Parallel morning rehearsals are held between 7.55 and eight.40 on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, when parents drop the youngsters off, and the cathedral takes responsibility for getting them to high school.
“To achieve those morning rehearsals once we get a lot done, we have now a complete logistics enterprise of our own, involving all our choral scholars and full-time members of staff,” Mr Prentice said. “We have minibuses, taxis, shuttles, chaperones; we have now some walking routes for nearby schools. It’s an exquisite and powerful thing, being a chorister, and, by this implies, we have now been in a position to protect that.” Applications from girls outnumber applications from boys, as is the norm for singing activities normally.
Lincoln was a very lovely place to sing, he said. “The combination of voices sounds absolutely wonderful on this constructing. The acoustics really support that: there’s a glow on all of the music you make. Choristers quickly get an actual love for what they do.”
Lincoln CathedralGirl choristers at rehearsals in Lincoln Cathedral this week
Naomi Goodall (née Line) was one in all the primary eight girls to be recruited in 1995. “It was really clear early on that we were a part of something much larger and greater than ourselves as individuals,” she reflected.
“When we arrived and commenced practising, we knew the boys were doing the identical, and we’d hearken to them. We really looked forward to having our probability to perform, and the boys were really friendly and inspiring. There was definitely a way of camaraderie, and we didn’t feel any hostility.
“In the early days, there have been girls’ pieces and boys’ pieces, to permit us come together, I believe, and reach that level of coaching. The very first time we sang with the back row was essentially the most good sound and feeling. It felt like a extremely monumental day. And, when the music stopped being differentiated, we were in a position to do things that were way more similar and aligned.
“It’s the scale of Lincoln, and the gravitas, and learning the way to fill that space, especially as a soloist, that makes it so very special.”
Emma Andrews (née Ferag) was within the second intake. By then, girls were less of a novelty. “It still felt quite pioneering, though,” she said. “Obviously, the boys had grow to be quite an establishment, and there was definitely a form of undertone of its still being a latest thing to get used to.
“But the beauty of being with children of the identical age is that those form of feelings evaporate quite quickly. I used to be on the boarding house, and clearly we’d eat meals together. It didn’t make sense to have any hostility. We were all working to the identical thing. And I believe the boys realised that, now the ladies were singing, they got to have some weekends off, and were more free to do other things as well.”
She remembers the intensity that got here with the primary time of singing within the stalls. “To be in that situation, and to feel the highlight is on you, was a extremely good feeling,” she said. “I literally had a few of the very best days of my life within the choir.”
Niamh Halliday is about to go away the choir after seven-and-a half years. Having never known a time when there have been no girl choristers, she has no experience of any misgivings. “Society has modified a lot within the last 100 years,” she said.
Of the experience of singing at Lincoln, she said: “Sometimes, I can have a look at it and forget it’s such an awesome constructing, because I’ve got so used to it. But other times, I believe, ‘This is such an incredible thing.’” Of the rigorous early-morning routine that she has had throughout her childhood, she said simply: “It gives you commitment, and helps you intend your life.”
Lincoln Cathedral puts on Handel’s Messiah every 12 months on the Saturday closest to St Cecilia’s Day. Former choristers will sing a few of the solos this 12 months, and a latest anthem has been commissioned for evensong on Sunday from Paul Edwards: King of Glory, King of Peace — the text by George Herbert, sometime Canon of Lincoln.
