Migration

The Diocese of Leeds music department now has a new website!

Please do go and visit: www.dioceseofleedsmusic.org.uk

This blog will no longer continue to be updated as all news stories will now be posted in the news section of the new website.

When All Saints went marching in

The All Saints Catholic College Choir, Huddersfield, formed less than one year ago, has just returned from a major international choral competition with a medal! All Saints Catholic College Choir were awarded a bronze medal in the Youth Choir category of the World Choir Games held in Gratz, Austria.



Inspired by the BBC documentary ‘The Choir’, All Saints Catholic College, in conjunction with the OPAL foundation and the Diocese of Leeds, in September 2007, formed a choir ‘from scratch.’ In April 2008, All Saints Choir took first prize in the OPAL ‘Magic of Music’ competition in the Royal Albert Hall in London – their prize being an all expenses paid trip to Austria this Summer to compete in the World Choir Games.



All Saints Catholic College Choir, numbering 36 male and female singers, competed in the Youth Choir category against choirs from Europe, Africa, South America and Asia.
The choir sang four pieces: Shto mi e milo – traditional Macedonian, Flying Free – Don Besig, Anima Christi – Russian, Benedictus and Hosanna – Emily Crocker. The choir was conducted by Christopher McElroy (Assistant Director of Music, Diocese of Leeds) and accompanied on the piano by Dr Christopher Johns (Choral Director, Diocese of Leeds.) School music teacher, Catherine Lunn played the flute.



With over 400 choirs from 91 countries, the World choir games is the biggest international choral competition in the world. The All Saints Choir competed against choirs who had worked together for many years and who were a great deal older. Mary Nixon, Headteacher said, “The whole college community is bursting with pride at this success. We took the view that ‘participation was the greatest honour’, – but to triumph so spectacularly on the world stage is a moment these students and our college will savour for a very long time. We have already taken bookings for the Autumn!”

In addition to singing themselves, All Saints choir had many opportunities to explore singing styles and repertoires of other cultures, as well as interact with singers from across the globe!

Choir Director Chris McElroy said: ‘The choir have performed marvellously: Over the last year they have worked hard together as a team, inspiring each other to further develop their choral singing skills. The bronze medal which they have been awarded is richly deserved!’

BYC @ Llangollen Eistedffod

The Bradford Girls’ Choir have just returned from Wales, where they have finished in the top 10 in an international Choir competition! Click here to watch the choir!

The choir took part in the Senior Children Choir’s Class of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, home of the famous ‘Choir of the World’ Competition.



They competed against choirs from Australia, Russia, USA, Ukraine, South Africa, Wales and England. This is the choirs ever performance in an international festival: To be chosen to compete in the finals, 100’s of choirs from around the world send in CD’s, from which 14 choirs are chosen to compete on the prestigious Royal Pavilion Stage in Llangollen.



Competing against some of the worlds finest choirs, the Bradford Girls’ Choir came a commendable 8th place (out of 14) which for their first international competition was a great achievement. The adjudicators praised the choirs tuning, diction and presentation noting that with further experience in such events, the choir would continue to improve.



The Bradford Girls’ Choir is a choir run by the Diocese of Leeds, and is directed by Christopher McElroy (Assistant Director of Music, Diocese of Leeds.) There are 50 girls (aged 10-17) in the choir drawn from St Josephs Catholic College, Yorkshire Martyrs, Holy Family Keighley and catholic primary schools in Bradford and Keighley. The Bradford Youth Choir (of which they are part) is the largest Catholic Youth Singing Program in the country, and attracts attention nationwide: Christopher McElroy was recently interviewed by Aled Jones on BBC R3 about the program.

The choir have just returned from a weeks tour to France, where they performed concerts in Paris and Lourdes (In the Rosary Basilica, to an audience of over 1000 people!)

Sing Up Concert in Leeds Cathedral

On Tuesday 17th June over 200 children from across the Diocese will gather together in Leeds Cathedral to sing up! Choirs from schools in Huddersfield, Bately, Birstall and Dewsbury will sing songs from different cultures and traditions, before joining together to sing the story of Jonah and the Whale.

The primary schools will be joined by the Choir of All Saints Catholic College, Huddersfield, just one week before they set sail for Austria where they will be competing in the Choir Olympics against choirs from over 100 countries from across the world! The concert begins at 7pm, and admission is free with a retiring collection. All Welcome!

The next generation

Here at the Diocese of Leeds, not only do we teach children to sing, we're also training up the next generation of choir trainers. Peter Thompson, Head Chorister at Leeds Cathedral and Year 10 pupil at St John Fisher School in Harrogate, chose to do his work experience with us and got a taste of what life is like as a member of staff in the music department. As well as receiving his first organ lesson from Diocesan Director of Music Ben Saunders, Peter joined Choral Director Christopher Johns in three primary schools and actually took part of the rehearsal in two of them! In the picture on the right, you can see him teaching the choir of St Cuthbert and the First Martyrs' Primary School in Heaton the three-part round 'Any time you need a Calypso'.

Who knows, perhaps we'll see Peter as a permanent member of the music department staff in ten years' time!

Wharfedale Festival Sucesses

It has been a busy week for BYC at the Wharfedale Festival!

For the first time, the Bradford Boys' Choir competed in the Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts. As choir in residence at St Josephs Church in Bradford, the choir were eligible to compete in the Church Choirs class of the Festival.

Conducted by Dr Christopher Johns, and accompanied on the organ by Cathedral organ scholar Daniel Rathbone, the choir sang 'All things bright and beautiful' by John Rutter. Awarding the choir first place, the adjudicator praised the choirs diction and sense of ensemble, whilst also giving pointers for the future. The choir returned home with the 'Duncan Challenge Shield' pictured below.

The Craiglands School Choir day saw no fewer than 12 BYC school choirs compete! A busy day for singers, accompanists, conductors and adjudicator alike! In the secondary school platform, St Josephs Catholic College retained the 'Elizabeth Ingle Trophy,' for winning the Church Music School Choirs class, beating Yorkshire Martyrs Catholic College into a close second place. Of St Josephs College, the adjudicator praised the choir for 'wearing the music of their faces!'

In the very competitive primary school classes, there were some excellent performances, with St Walburgas and St Francis clinching 2nd and 3rd places respectively in the 11 and under class.

BYC success was not just limited to our choirs: Elizabeth Cockshott and Hayley Nolan, both long standing members of the BYC Girls choir enjoyed success in solo classes. Elizabeth won first prize in the Junior organ solo class (winning a £15 gift token!) whilst Hayley achieved a creditable 3rd place in the Vocal solo 17 and under, singing the Handel song 'Where'er you walk.'

Congratulations to all!

Click here for an updated BYC roll of honour

New organ in Ilkley

The pipe organ has long played an important part in Christian worship: indeed The Liturgical Constitution of the Second Vatican Council Sacrosanctum Concillium, had this to say:

In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man's mind to God and to higher things. (# 120)

It is therefore a cause of great joy when a church in the Diocese is able to install a new organ.

The church of the Sacred Heart Ilkley took delivery of a new organ last week. The instrument is made my Schumaker of Germany and has mechanical key and stop action. It was installed by Peter Collins with consultant John Rowntree (Director of Music at Doui Abbey.)

Catholic Girls' Choir Festival in Leeds Cathedral

Around 100 girls performed in the beautiful setting of Leeds Cathedral on Sunday 4th May. The occasion was the first ever ‘Catholic Girls’ Choir festival Concert.’ Joining choirs from the Diocese of Leeds was special guest choir: The Schola Puellarum of Ampleforth Abbey. The choir’s began and ended the concert by singing as a 100 strong choir. Particularly well received by the audience was a beautiful rendition of ‘Panis Angelicus’ by Cesar Frank which brought the concert to a close.

In addition to these joint items each choir presented a selection of their own repertoire. First up was the Bradford Girls’ Choir, who have a busy Summer ahead of them with a tour to France, and an appearance as finalists in the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod! They sang music from France, America, Africa and the UK ranging from 16th century polyphony through to the well know African chant ‘Freedom is coming!’

Next to perform was the Schola Puellarum of Ampleforth Abbey, directed by Kate Morgan. Founded in 2004 when Ampleforth College went co-educational, the girls’ choir was formed with the aim of giving girls an opportunity to contribute to the thriving choral tradition of the school and the liturgical life of the Abbey Church. The schola performed movements from Pergolesi’s ‘Stabat Mater’ with some outstanding solo contributions from members of the choir.

Finally, the host choir, Leeds Cathedral girls’ choir performed. The Cathedral girls’ choir is the longest established choir of its type in an English Catholic Cathedral and acknowledged as ranking amongst the finest of cathedral girls' choirs, they have broadcast nationally many times on BBC Radio to considerable critical acclaim. Their wide ranging program included works from the Baroque period (Vivaldi, Pergolesi and Couperin) alongside works from the 20th Century, including a setting of Panis Angelicus by Giles Swayne, commissioned by the Cathedral.

Both the Bradford Girls’ Choir and the Cathedral Girls’ Choir were directed by Christopher McElroy, Assistant Director of Music for the Diocese of Leeds. Organ accompaniments for the concert were provided by William Dore (Assistant Director of Music and College Organist, Ampleforth) and Christopher Johns (Choral Director, Diocese of Leeds.)

The concert was introduced by Mgr Michael Mcquinn, Vicar General who said how proud he was of the flourishing music program here in the Diocese of Leeds, and how delighted he was to welcome singers from Ampleforth Abbey to perform at the concert. The Diocese of Leeds runs the largest Catholic youth singing program in the UK, with over 100 children taking part in singing activities each week.

The concert was well received by the packed Cathedral – one member of the audience commented “We really enjoyed the programme this afternoon, especially the opportunity to see three such talented and yet quite different choirs, each with their own distinct identity. Hope this will not be the last such festival!”

For more photo's, click here.

For all the Saints

St Josephs Catholic College, Bradford, yesterday celebrated their Centenary with a special mass with the whole school for the feast of St Joseph.



The College Choir lead the singing at Mass which included a wide variety of music in both English and Latin, ranging from 12th Century plainsong through to offerings from the Taize community, based in France.

Two items were specially commissioned for this centenary celebration. Elizabeth Stratford, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Arundel Cathedral composed a setting of the Ave Maria for choir and congregation. Included in the verses is a prayer to St Joseph -


'O, St Joseph by your protection I place in you all my objects and desires

obtain for me from your divine son, all spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ.'


The liturgy concluded with the singing of 'For all the Saints' with a specially composed verse by Headteacher, Mr Pat McDermott relating to the feast of St Joseph, and thanks for his patronage of the College over it's one hundred year life!

Sing Up in the Cathedral!

The joyful voices of over 60 children from diocesan schools flooded Leeds Cathedral on the evening of April 23rd in the first of a series of ‘Sing Up!’ concerts.


Children from Holy Rosary and St. Anne’s Primary, Leeds; St. Benedict’s Primary, Garforth and St. Ignatius’ Primary, Ossett entertained their audience with a variety of songs from different cultures and languages, including Italian, Zulu and Polynesian. They were joined by choristers from the Cathedral’s own Boys’ and Girls’ choirs, who complemented the schools’ music with that of Pergolesi, Franck, and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous Pie Jesu. The children were also treated to hear the Cathedral Organ being played at full capacity by Christopher McElroy, the Assistant Director of Music at the Cathedral, who played J.S. Bach’s dazzling Toccata in D Minor.

The whole evening was topped and tailed by massed choir pieces, including Go Down Jonah from Jonah Man Jazz, the musical cantata by Michael Hurd. Every song was sung from memory; the effort, discipline and enthusiasm of every child was outstanding and made the evening into a very enjoyable event.

The concert was introduced by Mgr Michael Mcquinn, Vicar General, who welcomed the children and their families to the ‘mother church’ of the Diocese.

The concert, directed by Charlotte Kitson, (Choral Director for the Diocese of Leeds) forms part of the Cathedral’s commitment to the ‘Sing Up!’ programme, facilitated by the Government’s Department for Children, Schools and Families. The aim of the programme is to make singing central to children’s lives in school, in the home and in the wider community. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to learn things when you sing them?

Cathedral Choirs are becoming increasingly involved with promoting singing and instrumental playing in their locality and are at the forefront of the ‘Sing Up!’ campaign to boost singing in primary schools. The Diocese of Leeds operates the largest Catholic youth singing program in the UK, with over 1000 children taking part in singing each week!

The next ‘Sing Up!’ concert will take place on Tuesday 17th June in the Cathedral, and will feature six primary schools from the Kirklees area, joined by the choir of All Saints’ Catholic College, Huddersfield a few weeks before they travel to compete in the World Choir Olympics in Austria!

Photos: © Patrick Sice

Catholic Girls' Choir Festival

Sunday 4th May sees an exciting concert at Leeds Cathedral.

Make a date in your diary now!

Oh when the Saints!

All Saints Catholic College in Huddersfield, who created a choir from scratch eight months ago in a project inspired by TV documentary The Choir, has sung its way to a coveted place in the World Choir Games in Austria this summer.

All Saints is one of two schools selected from ten from across the country who performed in a dedicated showcase for The Opal Choir Project this week (16 April) at the Royal Albert Hall. The event, The Magic of Music, was the culmination of a challenging journey of hard work and training with Choir Director, Christopher McElroy, Assistant Director of Music for the Diocese of Leeds. The concert was the highlight of an expenses-paid trip to London, which included a visit to the Natural History Museum and a trip on the London Eye.

In line with the aims of the Music Manifesto, The Opal Choir Project was created with the ambition of “helping bring music back into education”. At a time when Britain is facing a crisis of confidence in its teenagers, it has offered everyone involved an extraordinary opportunity to acquire a new set of skills and to perform in one of the most iconic concert halls in the world. Whilst offering the children from All Saints Catholic School a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the World Choir Games in Austria, the project will leave a lasting legacy of music in all ten schools.

The Magic of Music was hosted by Songs of Praise and ex Blue Peter presenter Diane-Louise Jordan and featured guest performances from the London Metropolitan University Choir and award-winning trio Tenors Un Limited. The evening featured a wide range of musical style and genres,- from classical through to traditional African, gospel and pop - and climaxed in a rousing finale of Nessun Dorma and You Raise Me Up with all the choirs.

An expert panel of judges included: singer and actress Sharon D Clarke (best known for her roles as Dr Lola Griffin in Holby City and Mama Morton in Chicago), Founder and Principal of The Voices Foundation Suzi Digby, and vocal coach and musical director Stuart Barr.

In the judging, Sharon D Clarke praised All Saints Catholic School Choir for:
“Clear, tuneful, beautiful harmonies” and “a wonderful blend with fabulous bases from the boys”.

Stuart Wall, Founder of The Opal Foundation, said:
“The Magic of Music was a real tribute to the courage and commitment of all the young people taking part, their choir masters and teachers. Our congratulations to All Saints Catholic School School for its tremendous performance. We will now be supporting the choir all the way through to The World Choir Games and wish them all the best for this next stage of the musical journey!”

UPDATED: click here for an article in the Huddersfield Examiner.

School Choir triumphs at the Royal Albert Hall

BREAKING NEWS:

All Saints Catholic College, Huddersfield last night took first prize in the OPAL 'Magic of Music' choir competition at the Royal Albert Hall in London!

They will travel to Austria in July to represent England in the choir Olympics, all expenses paid through the generosity of the OPAL choir foundation.

Well done All Saints!!!

Stay tuned for a full report shortly!

African Sanctus

In addition to their role as 'Choir in residence' at St Josephs Church in Bradford, the Bradford Boys' Choir also regularly perform at concerts in West Yorkshire and beyond.

Last night saw the boys' take part in a concert in Bradford Cathedral. Performing alongside the Bradford Festival Choral Society the choirs performed 'African Sanctus' by David Fanshawe.

On the composers website, we read about the striking work:

African Sanctus is a universal work whose impact is immediate, whose message is simple, the driving force is one of Praise and a firm believe in One Music - One God. It informs both listener and performer about African music and its relationship to Western polyphony and captures the eternal and spiritual soul of music. It is an event, a celebration of power and energy, both visual, aural and multi-cultural, now performed live all over the world. For David Fanshawe there are no musical barriers.

African Sanctus is an unorthodox setting of the Latin Mass harmonised with traditional African music recorded by the composer on his now legendary journeys up the River Nile (1969-73). The taped music from Egypt, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya is heard in counterpoint with the live chorus, soprano soloist and instrumental ensemble. The work is composed in 13 movements and reflects geographically the composer’s cross-shaped pilgrimage, from the Mediterranean to Lake Victoria, whereby Kyrie represents Cairo and Sanctus Northern Uganda.

The Bradford Boys' Choir with Neville Creed, Conductor and Maureen Brathwaite, Soprano.

Ready to Raise the Roof

Only three days till All Saints Catholic College Choir, Huddersfield and St Bedes Male Voice Choir, Bradford perform in the Royal Albert Hall in London!

The choirs performed last week in a concert at Bradford University, their final performance before traveling down to the nations most hallowed concert hall on Wednesday.

On Wednesday they will compete in the OPAL 'Magic of Music' concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Formed from scratch only one year ago, both school choirs are raring to go and hope to do West Yorkshire and the Diocese of Leeds proud!

Click here to read a report in the Bradford T&A Ready to raise the roof !

Also - West Yorks school singers aim for World Choir Games

Sacred music program on BBC Four

BBC TV is running an excellent new series called 'Sacred Music' on BBC Four. It's not often that we see whole TV programs devoted to such topics, so this is definately worth a watch!

The program airs on Friday nights, 8pm on BBC Four.

Last week's program focussed on the 'Gothic revolution' - charting the story of the early development of Christian church music from the haunting simplicity of plain song to the full glory of gothic polyphony.

Tonight's program is intruigingly entitled 'Palestrina and the Popes' - sounds very relevant to Catholic Music!

If you miss the program, catch it agin on BBC IPlayer.

Songs of Praise from Leeds

This Sunday sees the second 'Songs of Praise' program to be broadcast this year on BBC 1 TV from Leeds Cathedral.

The theme of the program is Confession, and features music from the Cathedral Boys, Girls and Adult Choirs as well as a large congregation drawn from across West Yorkshire. Hymns include favorite such as 'Praise my Soul the King of Heaven' and 'Just as I am, without one plea.'

The Cathedral Boys' and Adult choir sing a beautiful setting of Psalm 51 by Spanish composer Pedro de Christo: 'Miserere Mei Domine'

BBC 1 TV - Sunday 30th March 2008, 5-5.35pm.

Don't miss it!

Lunchtime Recital at Leeds Cathedral

Tom Leech
Ripon Cathedral
Thursday 6 March 2008 1.10pm


A selection of movements from Klavierübung III J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Praeludium pro Organo pleno BWV 552, i

Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit alio modo, manualiter, BWV 672
Christe, aller Welt Trost BWV 673
Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist BWV 674

Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr a 3, Canto fermo in Alto, BWV 675
Fughetta super Allein Gott manualiter, BWV 677

Vater unser im Himmelreich a 2 Clav. et Pedal e Canto fermo in Canone, BWV 682

Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam a 2 Clav. e Canto fermo in Pedale, BWV 684

Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir a 6 BWV 686

Duetto II BWV 803

Fuga a 5 con pedale pro Organo pleno BWV 552, ii


Thomas Leech became Assistant Director of Music at Ripon Cathedral in September 2004 following three years as Organ Scholar at Norwich Cathedral. He graduated from Downing College, Cambridge, in July 2001, after spending three years there as Organ Scholar. Whilst reading for a music degree at the university he conducted Downing College Chapel Choir and Darwin College Choir, also conducting a number of major orchestral works. With Downing College Chapel Choir he toured to Belgium, Holland, Hungary, Poland and the U.S.A. and with Norwich Cathedral Choirs to Italy, Norway and Belgium. He has also given concerts in France and Portugal. In addition to playing for the daily choral services at Ripon Cathedral he has performed as a soloist in numerous English venues, his playing has been broadcast on BBC1, Radio 3 and Classic FM and recorded on acclaimed discs with Norwich Cathedral Girls’ Choir on Lammas Records and Ripon Cathedral Choirs on Regent Records and York Ambisonic. Festival engagements have included the Cambridge Summer Music Festival and the Ripon International Festival (with trumpeter Alison Balsom) and last October he was Festival Organist for the Yorkshire Three Choirs’ Festival. Concerts in 2008 include solo recitals in Coventry and St. David’s Cathedrals, The Temple Church and Westminster Abbey. He studied organ with David Sanger and in November 2002 studied in Germany with Johannes Geffert and at Klais Orgelbau with the inaugural Klais Organ Scholarship from the Eric Thompson Trust. He has participated in masterclasses and academies with many of today’s leading organists. Thomas is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, winning the Durrant and Turpin prizes in the Fellowship examinations. He became Musical Director of Bradford Festival Choral Society in January of this year, and is honoured to be President-Elect of Leeds Organists’ Association.

BYC Choirs to perform at Bradford University

This tem sees two of our BYC choirs plus the Choir of All Saints, Huddersfield perform as part of the University of Bradford Spring/ Summer 08 concert series.



On Saturday 8th March, the Bradford Girls' Choir will join the University Singers and Orchestra in a performance of John Rutter's 'Requiem' alongside other English music.



Wednesday 9th April sees a concert in the glass atrium that dominates the universities skyline entitled 'Young Voices' which will feature St. Bedes MVC and the choir of All Saints Catholic College, Huddersfield. Exactly one week later, both choirs will feature in a singing competition in the Royal Albert Hall in London!



Click here for further details about both these concerts, as well as many other musical and artistic events that will be taking place at the university this term.

BYC on BBC R4

The Bradford Youth Choir today broadcast the Daily Service live on BBC R4 LW. The BBC's longest running program, the Daily Service is transmitted live each day from Emmanuel Church in Didsbury. The service is usually led by a professional choir, but occasionally choirs are invited to lead the music, so it was a great privilege for 50 youngsters from Bradford to be able to use their musical talents to an listenership of around 200,000 people.




The Bradford Youth Choir is part of the Diocese of Leeds singing program: the largest catholic singing program in the UK. Drawn from Catholic schools across Bradford and Keighley, the young singers sing both in and out of school under the direction of Diocese of Leeds musicians Christopher Johns, Charlotte Kitson and Christopher McElroy.



The broadcast can be listened to for the next seven days on the BBC's 'listen back' feature. Click here to listen (Thursday 28th February, Persistent Prayer)

Diocese of Leeds choirs hit European City of Culture!

Liverpool is the European City of Culture 2008 - as a result, many special events are taking place around the city. This Wednesday, two schools choirs from the Diocese of Leeds accepted an invitation to perform at Liverpool Hope University.

The Concert took place on the Everton Campus, in the great hall at Cornerstone. The concert entitled 'OPAL voices' involved St. Bedes Male Voice Choir, Bradford and All Saints Catholic College, Huddersfield alongside St. Francis of Assisi Academy in Liverpool. The choirs were welcomed to Liverpool Hope University by Philip Duffy, Director of Performance and Exhibitions (and for many years Master of the Music at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, building up the fine choral tradition that exists there today.)

Both All Saints and St. Bedes choirs only began life in September of this year, working in partnership with the Diocese of Leeds music department who direct the choir in each school. In April both choirs will compete against seven others choirs from around the country in a competition in the Royal Albert Hall in London to win a place in the coveted Choir Olympics which take place this Summer in Austria.

Each choir sang a selection of their repertoire, beginning and ending the concert with all the choirs singing on stage together. The Choir of St Francis of Assisi was directed by Phillip Arkwright, Sub Organist at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. The choirs of St. Bedes and All Saints were Directed by Christopher McElroy, Assistant Director of Music for the Diocese of Leeds.

After the concert the children from All Saints received an unexpected treat when they went to see the Metropolitan Cathedral. They entered the cathedral to find that the final rehearsal of a new work by John Tavener was being rehearsed: his Requiem, composed for the 2008 City of Culture celebrations. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Vasily Petrenko left the children spellbound for 20 minutes before they boarded their coach back to West Yorkshire!

HCPT Charity Concert

Each year HCPT organise a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the Marian shrine in the South of France. As part of the fund raising for the local HCPT a charity concert was staged at St. Winefrides Catholic Church in Wibsey, Bradford featuring local choirs and soloists.

Featured soloist was baritone Mr Dominic Rose, a member of Leeds Cathedral Adult Choir and a local music teacher. Dominic enthused the audience with a wide variety of music ranging from 'Panis Angelicus' through to 'The Last Chord' by Arthur Sullivan.

The concert opened with St. Bedes Male Voice Choir under the direction of Chris McElroy. In just 6 weeks time the choir will compete in the OPAL Choir competition in the Royal Albert Hall in London! This was the first of 4 'warm-up' performances for the big day in April, and the choir did a great job singing music from America, England, Italy and Spain. Watch out for more info on this choir soon!

BYC works with 18 catholic schools in the Bradford area, and we were fortunate that two of our primary school choirs were able to perform at this concert, braving the sub zero temperatures outdoors! Hosts St Winefrides delighted the audience with a performance of 'All things bright and beautiful.' This was followed by St. Anthony's, Clayton who sang the Lenten song 'Praise to you, O Christ our Savior.' Both choirs, trained by Christopher Johns (Choral Director for the Diocese of Leeds) filled the church with their singing!

The evening concluded with performances from the Bradford Boys' Choir, the elite choir for Boys singing in Bradford. The choir sang music by Malcolm Archer, Vaughan Williams and Moses Hogan.

After the concert choirs and audience alike retired to the church hall for refreshments and to learn more about the work of HCPT.

Redefining Outreach

Click here to read an article about the 'outreach' singing program here in the Diocese of Leeds. The article is taken from Church Music Quarterly, the magazine of the Royal School of Church Music.


With a readership of 80,000 worldwide, CMQ is an influential periodical illustrating the happenings of the church music world. Each issue offers a wide range of articles and interviews by distinguished musicians, theologians and scholars, providing expert advice, information and inspiration for readers.

Redefining Outreach, written by Benjamin Saunders, Director of Music for the Diocese of Leeds illustrates how the Diocese of Leeds has broken new ground in its Diocesan singing program. Unlike the traditional Anglican Cathedral model, here in the Diocese of Leeds we consider all of our singing schools to be 'Choir schools' in their own right - each receiving training from high calibre cathedral musicians.

This article was published in ‘Church Music Quarterly’ June 2007 and is reproduced with permission of The Royal School of Church Music, with thanks. It may not be further reproduced without the permission of the RSCM.

One year and running!

Happy birthday dear blog!!




It is now one year since we have begun chronicling happenings in the Diocese of Leeds Music Department - with singing programs in Leeds, Bradford, Keighley and Huddersfield there's plenty going on!


Click here for the very first post once year ago - I hope you enjoy reading these posts, and you find them informative!

Guardian letters page

The Guardian today (7th February 2008) carries a letter citing the positive example of the Diocese of Leeds singing outreach program in Bradford. It comes in the wake of recent media coverage about the idea of choir school 'academies' proposed by the government.

Here is an excerpt from the letter:

'If churches are really interested in giving large numbers of children the benefit of cathedral musical expertise, they should look at the Bradford Choral Project, based at St Anne's RC Cathedral in Leeds, which supports four full-time musicians, probably more than any other UK cathedral.

They not only service the liturgical needs of the cathedral, but provide fully trained choral directors to go out into over 20 church schools in Bradford to run non-selective school choirs. This gives every child in those schools an opportunity to access cathedral-standard musical and choral expertise.'

To read the full letter, click here.

Organ Concert - Simon Lindley

LEEDS CATHEDRAL LUNCHTIME CONCERT SERIES

Spring and Lent
Thursday 21 February 1.10pm
Leeds University Union Music Society
Chamber Choir


Totus Tuus Henryk Gorecki
Crucifixus Antonio Lotti
Deep River Arr. Norman Luboff
Lamentation Edward C. Bairstow
The Silver Swan Orlando Gibbons
Now is the Month of Maying Thomas Morley
O Lord the Maker Thomas Morley

The Chamber Choir is part of the larger parent society, LUUMS, in which there are two choral groups. This is the smaller, auditioned ensemble and the choir perform challenging and exciting repertoire, both sacred and secular, on a regular basis around the city. The conductor Matthew Oglesby draws experience from Blackburn and Leeds Cathedrals: the first as a chorister and the latter as Choral and Conducting Scholar. All members of the choir are students at the university and come from a wide range of academic backgrounds.

Bach in Leeds

At 3pm on Sunday, 17th February, Leeds Cathedral Choir will perform J.S.Bach's St John Passion in Leeds Cathedral under the direction of Dr Christopher Johns, accompanied by members of the LUUMS (Leeds UniversityUnion Musical Society) Orchestra. Admission is free of charge, with a retiring collection being taken at the end.

J.S. Bach's St John Passion has moved the hearts of the faithful eversince its first performance in 1724. As will be familiar from readings ofthePassion Story in the liturgies of Holy Week, the parts of the Evangelist, Our Lord, Pilate and other individuals are sung by soloists. The chorus takes on the role of the crowd, calling for the release of the murderer Barrabas, mocking our Saviour as the crown of thorns is placed on His headand ultimately screaming for His barbaric execution.

Unlike conventional readings of the Passion Story, however, Bach's St JohnPassion includes settings of texts not taken from the Holy Scriptures which meditate on and try to make sense of what is happening. As Christ carries His Cross to the hill where He is to die, a bass soloist entreats us to flee our torments and go also to Golgotha, where, by faith, we may find release; and as our Lord breathes his last, a solo soprano "pours out her heart in floods of tears" at the death of "my Jesus".

The response of the faithful to both the Passion Story and the reflective arias makes up the third part of the compostion and takes the form of chorales (German hymns) sung to tunes which, for the most part, will also be familiar to an English audience. And so it is that the piece closes with a hymn contemplating our own mortality and the wonder of the gift of eternal life.

"O Lord, let your dear angels carry my soul to Abraham's bosom at the end ofmy days; Let my body sleep in peace, free from pain and torment, until the day of judgement.Then wake me from death, so that my eyes may see Thee in great joy, Thou Son of God, My Saviour on the throne of grace!Lord Jesus Christ, hear my cry. I will praise you for all eternity!"

For further information, please contact the Music Office on 0113 244 8634 Monday to Thursday between 10.30am and 3.30pm during term time.

Latin Mass

Each first Sunday of the Month, the 11am Solemn Mass at the Cathedral is celebrated in Latin.

Many people do not realise that the 'normal' language for Roman Catholic worship is in fact Latin - the second Vatican Council didn't decree that in future Mass was to be said in the vernacular, rather it opened up the opportunity for the use of the vernacular, particularly in the administration of the sacraments. The unfortunate wholesale abandonment of the use of Latin in worship also has negative consequences for the 'treasury of sacred music' which is largely in Latin.

We are fortunate in Leeds Cathedral to have the best of both worlds, with Mass being offered in both Latin and English, and with the choir singing repertoire from the great repertoire of sacred music from Gregorian chant to polyphony.

Today's Latin Mass was extra special as the celebrant was out Bishop, who this weekend was carrying out his visitation of our Cathedral. In his closing remarks he thanked the clergy, choir and congregation for continuing and keeping alive the Latin tradition of our church.

Music was led by the Cathedral Boys' and Adult choir - the mass setting at the monthly Latin mass setting is Gregorian chant, alongside motets by Frank and Viadana.

The Light of Christ

As part of evangelisation here in the Diocese of Leeds, we are currently engaged in 'Come and See' - a process for renewal. The third year of the program is entitled 'Being the local church: Celebrating being Catholic.'

This week saw children from catholic schools from across the diocese gather for a special service entitled 'The Light of Christ' which included the particuarly 'Catholic' form of devotion - Benediction and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

The Liturgy was led by the Bishop, who explained to the packed Cathedral about the different elements of his Coat of Arms, and what it says about his beliefs and ancestry.

Music for the Mass was directed by Christopher Johns, choral director for the Diocese of Leeds alongside the other choral director, Charlotte Kitson who served as cantor. The 70 strong choir comprised of children from 3 BYC primary schools - St. Clares, Fagley, St. Winefides and St Williams. Situated in the fine ock carved choir stalls they led the congregation in singing the hymns, acclamations and responses whilst also adding to the beauty and solemnity of the liturgy with the singing of Cesar Frank's 'Panis Angelicus during Exposition.

Pictures from the liturgy can be found on the Catholic Post website.

The Choir: Boys don't sing (?)

On BBC 2 tonight, choirmaster Gareth Malone returned with a follow up series to 'The Choir.' Basing himself at a boy's school in Leicester, Gareth goes about building a boy's choir from scratch: 'The Choir: Boys Don't Sing'

Readers may be interested to know that here in the Diocese of Leeds we have two similar stories unfolding as we speak!

St Bedes Catholic School in Bradford (an all boys secondary school) began a boy's choir in September with the aim of competing in a choir competition in the Royal Albert Hall in April of this year. Now 5 months into their preparations, the St Bedes Male Voice Choir is starting to take shape. The Boys will be performing at concerts at Liverpool Hope University and Bradford University in the run up to their big performance in London on April 16th. The boys work very hard in rehearsal each week and are singing a wide range of music from renaissance polyphony to upbeat Spanish dance music!

Read about St Bedes MVC here - also you can read an article in the local paper, and even hear the boys singing and watch an interview with the headteacher.

All Saints Catholic College in Huddersfield (Mixed Secondary School) will also be performing in the competition at the Royal Albert Hall in London in April. The mixed voice choir, age ranged 11-16 have been working on songs in English, Latin and Macedonian - who said it was all just about music: they learn about different cultures and languages as well!

Read about All Saints here, plus click here for an article in the Huddersfield Examiner.

Both St. Bedes and All Saints recently appeared on the BBC themselves: BBC Songs of Praise! The choir are run by staff from the Diocese of Leeds music department as part of the school singing program: the largest such catholic program in the UK!

Choir & Organ

The January/ February edition of Choir & Organ features an article on music in the Diocese of Leeds as part of their 'Cantus in Choro' series. Written by John Rowntree, organist of Douai Abbey the article is entitled 'Laying Solid Foundations.'


This article gives a really good overall flavor of what is happening musically here in the Diocese of Leeds, with over a 1000 children singing schools and churches throughout the Diocese each week.!

Choir & Organ have kindly given permission for the article to be posted for you to read online.

Click here to view.

Sing choirs of schoolkids

Click here to read an article by Abigail Frymann entitled 'Sing choirs of schoolkids' which appeared in The Tablet.





The article begins:


The Diocese of Leeds is developing a marvelous program in which the cathedral's music staff are reaching out to schools to give them access to top-level tuition - and the results are there for all to hear...

Click here to continue reading

(By kind permission of The Tablet - http://www.thetablet.co.uk/ )

BYC school hits the airwaves

BYC singing school Our Lady of Victories in Keighley has gone were no other BYC school has gone before! They have created their very own radio station - Radio OLV!

Each Friday afternoon the whole school sits listening intently to the weeks program, presented and produced by the pupils themselves!

Funded jointly by the school, and the Bradford Creative Partnerships programme, the studio – dubbed ‘RadiOLV’ – has been the brainchild of head John Devlin and the local community radio station, BCB 96.7 FM.

In addition to broadcasting in school, the weekly programme is available as a podcast - why not give it a try. Watch out for a programme in the near future which will feature tracks from BYC's first CD 'Jubilate Deo.'

Doctor's Appointment

From this term onwards, the Bradford Boys' Choir will have a doctor's appointment at St Bede's School from 4-5pm every Thursday. Not because they're ill, but because their director, Christopher Johns, has been awarded a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Durham University, where he studied from 2003 - 2006.

His dissertation was about Finnish, Arabic and Modern Irish, but German is the foreign language he speaks best, as he was Assistant Choirmaster at Osnabrueck Cathedral before starting at Durham. Here he is pictured outside Durham Cathedral just after receiving his degree from Chancellor Bill Bryson.

Congratulations, Dr Johns!

Lunchtime Concerts Series

The Lunchtime concert series returns for the Spring Term 2008 with a varied music programme. Details are as follows:-

Benjamin Saunders (Leeds Cathedral)
Thursday 31 January 1.10pm
Music by Langlais, Dupré & Hollins

Simon Lindley (Leeds Parish Church)
Thursday 7 February 1.10pm
Organ music by Bach, Vierne & Jackson

“Music for Spring & Lent”
Thursday 21 February 1.10pm
Leeds University Chamber Choir
Music by Allegri, Praetorius & Ockingham

Martin Couzin (Cello) & Andrew Bedford (Piano)
Thursday 28 February 1.10pm
Music by Beethoven & Martinu

Tom Leech (Ripon Cathedral)
Thursday 6 March 1.10pm
Excerpts from Bach’s Klavierübung III

“Rhapsody on a Ground”
Stephen Power (Southwell Minster)
Thursday 13 March 1.10pm
Organ Music by Howells, Alcock & Statham

Other Cathedral concerts also include:-

St John Passion by J.S.Bach
Sunday 17 February 3.00pm
Leeds Cathedral Choir with members of LUUMS

"Miserere mei"
Tuesday 18 March 8.00pm
Music for Holy Week by Allegri, Tallis and De Cristo

Free admission/retiring collection for all the above concerts and recitals

BYC on BCB

BYC Director Chris McElroy and members of the choirs were today the special guests on BCB radio's 'Our Top Ten' program. Award winning station Bradford Community Radio each week invites people in the local area who make positive contributions to the local community. As the largest youth singing program around, BYC certainly fits the bill with over 1000 children singing each week under the leadership team.


BCB presenter David Clapham played songs from the BYC recently released debut CD 'Jubilate Deo' and interviewed James Baxter (Boys' Choir) Hayley Nolan (Girls Choir) and Gavin Malewski (Changing Voices.) Each choir member brought along a CD of music of their choice which ranged from Elvis, through to 80's pop and music from the Harry Potter films!

If you missed the show, you can catch it again on

Wednesday 22nd January - 9am
and
Saturday 26th January - 12 midday

If you are in the Bradford area, you can listen at 106.6FM

Alternatively, listeners can tune in from anywhere via the Internet site which can be accessed by going to the BCB homepage, and clicking 'listen live'!

Choral Vespers at LPC

To mark the the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity a special service of Vespers was held yesterday at Leeds Parish Church.


Sung by the combined boys' choirs of Leeds Parish Church and Leeds Cathedral, the service featured music by Mozart and Byrd in a addition to traditional Epiphany tide hymns.

The music was directed by Dr Simon Lindley, Organist and Master of the Music at Leeds Parish Church. Simon is also Organist to the City of Leeds, and runs a very popular Monday lunchtime organ recital series at the Town Hall as part of the Leeds International Concert Season which attracts many famous organists.

Boys' can't sing? They can in Bradford!

The newly formed St. Bedes Male Voice Choir, one of the Bradford Youth Choir secondary schools, will sing at the Royal Albert Hall in April. The Royal Albert Hall in London is one of the most famous concert venues in the world, and is where the famous proms (including the 'last night') take place each year.

Click here to read all about the choir in today's T&A.

Click here to watch a video report featuring the boys singing and Mr Paul Martin, the headteacher being interviewed.