Leicester Cathedral - The Choir

The Choir

Leicester Cathedral Choir is made up of the Boys Choir, the Girls Choir, and also the Cathedral Songmen. Boys and girls are recruited from schools throughout Leicester and Leicestershire, whilst many of the Songmen originally joined the choir as trebles, and have since stayed on after their voice broke. The Cathedral also offers scholarships worth around £1000 a year to gap year and university students at Leicester University and De Montfort University. Whilst the choir occasionally produces CD's and other recordings, it is also one of the only Cathedral Choirs never to have appeared on BBC Radio 3's 'Choral Evensong'.

The choir rehearses on most days, and performs evensong on Mondays (girls choir), Thursdays (boys choir) and Sundays (full choir). Indeed, Sundays are the only day where the full choir can regularly be heard, with the boys, girls, and songmen frequently singing together at Cathedral Eucharist at 10:30am and Choral Evensong at 4:00pm.

The Cathedral Choir participates in regular festivals, with the annual RSCM Leicestershire festival in September often taking place in the Cathedral itself. Each year during February the Choir joins those of Derby and Coventry Cathedrals, and more recently Southwell Minster for what is known as the 'Midlands Four Choirs Festival'. Each Cathedral takes it in turns to host the event, although the repertoire is chosen, and music conducted, by the Directors of Music of all participating choirs.