Being a Worcester Chorister
Founded in 1714, Worcester College has a distinguished reputation for Music within the University, partly due to the draw of its excellent chapel choirs as well as its large number of Music undergraduate places. A significant roll-call of composers have called Worcester home in recent years, including Kenneth Leighton, Edmund Rubbra, Robert Saxton and film composer Rachel Portman OBE. To become part of the choral fabric of Worcester is therefore to join a very special musical community.
Our Worcester choristers usually audition in the Trinity Term of Form 3, after which they are admitted as ‘probationers’ whilst they learn the skills required to be a full chorister. These include sight-reading, theory and vocal technique, covered in their morning rehearsals (8am on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays), at rehearsals for services (usually Mondays and Tuesdays after school), and in individual singing lessons, which take place during school on Fridays. The boys are trained principally by the Director of Music – Caius Lee – as well as the Assistant Organist Jeremy Wan, their singing teacher Greg Hallam, and undergraduate organ scholars. The team has a wealth of experience working in cathedral music and specifically in working with young voices.
In addition to singing services in their chapel, the Worcester choristers also take part in concerts, recordings, and tours. Recent trips have included a visit to Normandy as part of the D-Day commemorations in 2025 – where boys sang in front of veterans and diplomats from around the world – and a tour to Florence this March, where boys performed in some glorious buildings and thoroughly enjoyed soaking up Italian culture (and food)! These wider experiences give the boys the chance to grow as a team, to perform in different settings and to share their music with wider audiences.
Finally, but most importantly, what do our boys say about being a Worcester chorister? Here are a few quotations sourced from boys in different years:
'Everyone has bonded together really well and when I first started everyone helped me'
‘My favourite memory is getting to sing in the Duomo in Florence’
‘I gained a lot of choral experience and it definitely helped me get a music award to my next school’
‘I really enjoy the friendship that you build with adults and peers’
‘The treble solos are always really good and the parts with harmony sound amazing"
Becoming a Worcester chorister undoubtedly requires dedication and hard work, but the rewards are manifold and it is always such a joy to spend time with this choir and to hear the quality of their singing. With a busy term ahead - and a recording scheduled for the summer - anyone who wishes to hear them in action will be spoilt for choice!
Ms Sophie Biddell
Director of Music
