Cathedral Music: New Futures for our Choral Heritage

“Music is the heartbeat of enabling our cathedrals’ worship, and our mission and service to the communities of our dioceses.”

The Very Revd Jo Kelly-Moore, Chair of the Association of English Cathedrals

Cathedral Music: New Futures for our Choral Heritage

All those involved in leading and enabling the musical life of Anglican cathedrals gathered this month to look at fresh ways to deliver and sustain our rich choral heritage for future generations.

With the constant challenge of chorister recruitment, rising cathedral expenses, and the demise of music teaching in our schools, many cathedrals have already begun to expand and widen their remit to be more inclusive and diverse and to explore different ways to maintain and grow the rich English choral tradition.

Organised by a partnership between the Association of English Cathedrals and Cathedral Music Trust, the conference held in Leicester Cathedral earlier this month explored new models to sustain cathedral music.

Entitled Championing Cathedral Music, the keynote speaker was the Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Stephen Lake.

He said:

“We need to see the English choral tradition as being about God and his people. It is not about us. We are there for the privilege of providing it. Music is worship and we need to see ourselves as missional. 

“To secure the future, we also need to be accountable. The challenges are many, but we need to make sure there are shared goals and financial responsibility. [The tradition] also needs to be accountable with our attitude towards safeguarding; the people that sing need to feel safe.

“Cathedral music requires partnership, and a degree of humility. We know that singing in cathedral choirs is the ultimate team sport: the parts, the complexity of the music and the frequency of occurrence.”

Panels were convened to debate how to uphold excellence in the changing musical landscape and share ideas around building a sustainable financial future.

The Very Revd Jo Kelly-Moore, Chair of the Association of English Cathedrals, said:

“Music is the heartbeat of enabling our cathedrals’ worship, and our mission and service to the communities of our dioceses.  

“In this centuries-long tradition, every day across the country, men, women, girls and boys come together to offer their gifts of music which inspire us all to give glory to God and nourish us to witness to God’s love for the world. 

“At our gathering in Leicester, this foundation to our work was agreed and it was recognised that sharing our creativity and courage about how we continue to fund Cathedral music for all our communities is vital in these challenging times.

“We recognise the rich gift we have to offer in our communities as the provision of music education in our schools tragically continues to reduce. 

“We celebrate all the new initiatives by our cathedrals which are fast growing. 

“Celebrating cathedral music in Leicester we began to air the challenges and the possibilities.  This must now lead to next conversations and actions, which we all agreed.

“We are committed to play our part in ‘Championing Cathedral Music.”

Jonathan Macdonald, Chair of Cathedral Music Trust, added:

“While the standards of cathedral music have never been higher, the sector is facing real challenges with financing and recruitment and there is a clear need for musicians, clergy and lay staff to work more closely together to ensure a sustainable future. 

“The discussions at the conference were both open and insightful, and provided us all with a deeper understanding of the diverse range of issues faced by cathedrals and their music departments up and down the country.

“The insight gathered will be invaluable to Cathedral Music Trust as we continue to evolve our support programmes and increase our activity in advocacy and fundraising. 

“We are grateful to have been given the opportunity to work alongside the Association of English Cathedrals in designing and co-hosting such a unique event. We also thank Hymns Ancient & Modern for their sponsorship of the conference.” 

Earlier this year seventeen of our cathedrals benefitted from a £500,000 boost from Cathedral Music Trust through its financial support programmes, including the Cathedral Music Support Programme and Church Choir Award. From Carlisle in the north to Truro in the south, there were a variety of awards to support the development and expansion of our musical ministry.