Singing has been a part of worship at Peterborough Cathedral for over 1000 years. As a Benedictine abbey generations of monks sang the offices. At the foundation of the Cathedral in 1541, the choir was formed along with The King’s School for the education of the choristers. Today’s choral foundation consists of around fifty boy and girl Choristers, six Lay Clerks and three Choral Scholars, together with three extra singers who sing at weekends and on major feasts. In addition to its main role providing choral music for the daily services, the choir gives concerts and broadcasts, and has undertaken a number of recordings: in recent years it has toured in Europe and the USA and made a number of television and radio broadcasts, including live broadcasts of Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3. In addition to the core foundation, the Youth Choir, for boys and girls aged 14–18, meets weekly and sings a variety of services and concerts in the Cathedral and further afield. The Festival Chorus meets weekly under the guidance of the Director of Music and sings at least two concerts a year in collaboration with the Cathedral choirs and professional accompaniment. Services on Saturdays and during holiday periods are usually sung by Visiting Choirs or are said. On major feasts and festivals Eucharist is sung instead of Evensong at 5.30pm on weekdays. The music to be sung at services over the next few weeks can be seen in our listing of forthcoming services. There are a number of special services each year at which the whole choral foundation sings including the Advent Procession, the Cathedral’s Christmas Carol Service, the Vigil, Confirmation and first Eucharist of Easter and the St Peter’s Day service on or around 29th June. Whilst music is imperative to the continued mission of the Cathedral, musical development and choristership is financially costly, so in 1996 The Hastings Music Endowment Fund was set up to secure the financial future of the Music Foundation, and has raised almost £2 million to date. Continued support is vital and anyone wishing to contribute should please contact us via [email protected] for more information.
