Meet our choirs

We have two main choirs at the cathedral - the Cathedral Choir (including boy and girl choristers) and a Chamber Choir.

Our choristers attend schools around the local area, including the full range of schools from both State and Private sectors. Choristers sing at two services a week (Wednesdays and Sundays for the boys and Thursdays and Sundays for the girls), as well as rehearsals twice a week. Other opportunities include tours, such as a recent trip to Romania, and choir social events. We also have a choral scholarship programme which is open for audition to anyone aged 15-25 who loves singing Cathedral Music and would like to work on their singing skills.

The Choral Clerks are professional men and women from the area who sing the lower parts with the children. The Girls, Boys and Choral Clerks occasionally sing together and all members play a full part in the many services and special events that take place in the Cathedral. Both our paid and voluntary adult singers come from a diverse range of pursuits and careers in and around Coventry, ranging from working in the NHS and university students to school teachers, office workers and people who are in retirement. We are proud to be, to our knowledge, the first Cathedral Choir with a registered-blind member of the choir.

The Chamber Choir is a 30-voice auditioned adult choir and it sings about twice a term as well as at special services, recordings and tours. Recent engagements of the choir include services at Westminster Abbey and a broadcast on BBC Radio. It does not have a regular weekly rehearsal commitment. Members are required to attend for rehearsal the Thursday evening before a Saturday or Sunday service, with a rehearsal immediately before the service as well.

The work of our music department is led by Rachel Mahon, Director of Music, and Luke Fitzgerald, Assistant Director of Music. Our music staff work tirelessly not only to deliver choral and organ music in the Cathedral but also to continue offering educational opportunities through musical coaching to our choristers drawn from across the city. The Cathedral Music Trust also currently fund an organ scholarship which is advertised annually online. This scholarship provides an opportunity each year for a young organist to develop their skills in a supportive environment, helping to widen access to a training in professional music to young people who wish to pursue it.

The cathedral also enjoys a close link with Coventry Cathedral Chorus - more information can be found here.

The history of choral music at Coventry Cathedral

In 1918 the parish church of St Michael became the Cathedral of the re-founded Diocese of Coventry. Although St Michael’s had had a long tradition of music and a succession of distinguished organists, it was felt that, along with the great British Cathedrals, a choral tradition would be of great benefit to the church and its congregations.

In the late 1930s, a scheme of choral scholarships was established, but this was soon interrupted by the outbreak of war and the destruction of the Cathedral. In 1959, Canon J.W. Poole, a former Precentor of Canterbury Cathedral (he had run the choir at Canterbury during the war) was appointed Precentor of the new Cathedral. In February 1959, the establishment of a Coventry Cathedral Choral Foundation was announced to elect ten boys annually to choral scholarships, tenable at King Henry VIII School, Coventry. In this way a choir would be ready to take part in the consecration service due in 1962.

The first voice trial was held in April 1959. Choristers were chosen and they attended the Cathedral for rehearsals and services from September. With the new building not yet complete, services were held in the undercroft, accompanied by a grand piano. In 1961 David Lepine took up his appointment as organist, at which time the choir consisted of 24 trebles, 4 altos, 4 tenors and 4 basses.

In 1976 it was decided to open up entrance to all boys attending schools within the city, though the link with King Henry VIII has not been broken. This was born of a desire to allow opportunities for boys of all social and financial backgrounds. Interestingly, it was not until 1993 that the Cathedral started a Girls Choir: their members are aged 7-18 although some leave at age 16, and they are drawn from schools across the city.

The first Cathedral Choir tour took place in 1963 with a journey behind the iron curtain to East Berlin. Over the years the choir has toured in Europe and America, South Africa and Japan. Coventry Cathedral’s history of destruction and rebuilding is a powerful message of reconciliation for today’s world. The deep connections with Germany continue, and in recent years the choristers have been invited to Germany 5 times to take part in Britten’s monumental War Requiem (composed for the consecration of the Cathedral in 1962). In September 2004, the senior boy and girl Choristers visited the Russian city of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad).

At home, the choir has over the years sung at all the great English churches such as Canterbury Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral, Truro Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, York Minster, and St Davids Cathedral.

In addition to leading services and being involved with many events of educational and spiritual worth, the choristers are also exceptionally highly trained in musical matters.

Formerly known as St Michael’s Singers, Coventry Cathedral Chorus was formed in 1963 shortly after the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral and is regarded as one of the UK’s leading choral societies. Click here to go to their website.