Winchester Cathedral Choir is an English

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

based at

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Until 1999 it was a men and boys choir, but there is now a girls choir which for some services sings separately from the boys. The choirs are currently directed by Andrew Lucas, who assumed the post in an acting capacity in 2024.Winchester Cathedral Choir at concertorganists.com
/ref>

History

The exact year in which the chorus was founded is unknown, but it is likely to have been in the 14th century. The earliest historical document relating to the chorus dates from 1402, when a John Dyer was named as the cathedral's organist and chorus-master. A 1544

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

decreed that the cathedral should have ten boys in the choir and a single organist.

Martin Neary Martin Gerard James Neary LVO (born 28 March 1940) is an English organist and choral conductor. Neary was born in London in 1940 and was a chorister of the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace from age eight, singing at the christening of Char ...

, Organist and Director of Music from 1972 to 1988, extended the traditional choral repertoire at Winchester, commissioning new works from Jonathan Harvey and, in particular,

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious music, religious works. Among his best known works are ''The Lamb (Tavener), The Lamb'' (1982), ''The ...

. (After Tavener´s death his widow commissioned a commemorative sculpture by Angela Conner which was installed in the cathedral). Neary was succeeded at Winchester by David Hill. In 1989 the choir made a recording for Hyperion of the 40-part motet ''

Spem in alium ''Spem in alium'' (Latin for "Hope in any other") is a 40-part Renaissance motet by Thomas Tallis, composed in c. 1570 for eight choirs of five voices each. It is considered by some critics to be the greatest piece of English early music. H. B. ...

''. At the time the choir had 20 choristers and 12

lay clerk A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in an Anglican cathedral and often Roman Catholic cathedral in the UK, or (occasionally) college choir in Britain and Ireland. The vicars choral w ...

s (adults), and to reach the size specified by the composer they were augmented by singers from

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and elsewhere. Reviewers noted steady tempi to cope with the cathedral acoustic and "treble-singing of a fine standard" ( ''Gramophone''). Andrew Lumsden moved to Winchester in 2002. He stood down as Director of Music in 2024. This has been seen as precipitating a crisis in the cathedral, and the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

Philip Mounstephen Philip Ian Mounstephen (born 13 July 1959) is a British Anglican bishop and missionary. He has been the Bishop of Winchester since 2023, having been Bishop of Truro from November 2018 until 2023. Mounstephen was previously the executive leader ...

commissioned a review to find a "way forward".

Membership

The choir currently consists of 18 boy

chorister A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

s and 18 girl choristers with the number of lay clerks (officially 12) under strength. It sings eight services weekly in the Cathedral. The girl choristers typically sing one service a week as well as concerts. Sometimes the group augments its numbers when certain musical works require a greater number of voices. The boy choristers all attend

The Pilgrims' School The Pilgrims' School is a Preparatory school (UK), preparatory school and cathedral school for boys aged 4-13, in the cathedral city Winchester, Hampshire, England. The official date of establishment for the cathedral school is unknown but hist ...

, where they study singing, music theory, music history, and at least one instrument in addition to general academic studies. The choir often tours internationally, has produced numerous recordings, and appears often in television and radio broadcasts. The Girls' Choir was founded in 1999 by Sarah Baldock, who worked with them for ten years. Claudia Grinnell (who served as assistant organist before becoming the cathedral's sub-organist in 2021) had particular responsibility for the choir until 2024. As at 2025, the Girls' Choir is now under the joint leadership of the Acting Director of Music, Andrew Lucas, and the Sub-organist, Joshua Stephens. The girl choristers, who all attend local schools, sing at least one service a week during term-time. They sing with the boy choristers for most major concerts, at Easter and Christmas, and for the

Southern Cathedrals Festival The Southern Cathedrals Festival is a five-day music festival held in rotation among the English cathedrals of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury, in the penultimate week of July. The festival was restored in 1960 after initial attempts to crea ...

every summer (when they also sing with the girl choristers of Salisbury Cathedral). The girls have toured Europe on several occasions, and record CDs, both with the boy choristers and on their own. They have also appeared in many television and radio broadcasts, including singing live on BBC1 on Easter morning, and on Christmas Day.

References

{{Authority control Choirs singing Anglican church music Boys' and men's choirs Choirs of children Girls' choirs English choirs

Choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...