About
Official Site: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/choir/main.htmFor over 900 years, since its founding by Edward the Confessor in 1065, daily worship has been offered in Westminster Abbey. Boys were singing in the choir as early as 1388, and when the monastery was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540 the King's new foundation provided for twelve adult singers (known today as 'Lay Vicars') and ten Choristers. Today all the Lay vicars are professional singers with a great wealth of experience, and some were themselves choristers in their youth. The choristers hold scholarships at Westminster Abbey Choir School, now the only school in England dedicated entirely to the education of choirboys. There are 36 boys in the school (aged 8-13), and each boy also learns two musical instruments - most gain valuable awards to their next schools. Some of England's greatest composers have been Abbey Organists, the most renowned period being the seventeenth century, which included Orlando Gibbons, John Blow and Henry Purcell. Since 1066 every Coronation has been held in Westminster Abbey, and it has been the scene for numerous other celebrations of great events in the life of the nation. Today, as in the past, the Choir's principal responsibility is to sing for daily Evensongs, Sunday services and many special services of national importance. It also maintains a stimulating programme of concerts, recordings, broadcasts and television appearances. Under Martin Neary the Choir has performed in Germany, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Canada and the USA. In October 1994 it made a historic visit to Moscow, with concerts at the Patriarch's Palace in the Kremlin, the Tchaikovsky Hall and the Bolshoi Hall of the Conservatoire. Tour plans for 1996 include appearances in Kiev and a coast to coast tour of North America in October and early November. The Choir has recently made a series of recordings for Sony Classical, including Akathist of Thanksgiving and Innocence by John Tavener, one of several contemporary British composers whose works have been premiered in Westminster Abbey. Its 1995 recording, Music for Queen Mary, by Purcell and his contemporaries was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award and was described in Classic CD as "the best Purcell yet". Other recent releases include A Millennium of Music from Westminster Abbey and Miserere, a sequence of music for Holy Week which includes the famous Allegri Miserere. During 1995, the Purcell Tercentenary year, the Choir gave a series of broadcast and televised concerts of Purcell's music in the Abbey, and a Purcell and Britten concert in the Aldeburgh Festival.
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