On Wednesday 26 June 2024, the girl choristers were joined by girls from Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School and children from two local primary schools; Bridge & Patrixbourne Primary School and St John’s Primary School, to sing Evensong at the Cathedral.  It was an extremely well-attended service, with many families attending to support their children.

Helen Brookes, Singing Partnerships Lead at Canterbury Cathedral, has been working with the two primary schools during this academic year as partner schools, to promote and encourage music and singing within the school, to provide practical support to teachers and to deliver workshops to children.

In May and June 2024, Helen Brookes, the Cathedral’s Singing Partnerships Lead, worked in collaboration with Kent Music and SingUp! to plan a large-scale singing event for 12 primary and secondary schools in the Folkestone, Hythe and Dymchurch area. 

The Folkestone Really Big Sing, a fun day of community singing and music making, took place at the Leas Cliff Hall on 19 June 2024, and was an opportunity for 350 children, who might not otherwise have had such an experience, to perform as part of a massed choir in a major venue supported by professional musicians.

Helen liaised with the participating primary school teachers to select a programme of songs that would inspire and engage the children, and that the teachers would feel confident to teach using the support materials and workshops provided, and then delivered preparatory workshops in eight schools to around 240 children.

In the Spring Term of 2024, the Cathedral’s Singing Partnerships Lead, Helen Brookes, took on the role of Children’s Chorus Manager of a schools’ project in Faversham, to produce two performances of Benjamin Britten’s Noyes’ Fludde, a one act community opera based on a 15^th century mystery play, at St Mary of Charity in Faversham. 

Helen put together engagement resources and learning support, including vocal tracks, for the schools taking part in the performances on 25 and 26 April 2024.  Helen also led five workshops in the schools taking part, alongside the Cathedral’s Choral Scholars, to help the 150 children prepare for the performances.  The workshops included basic vocal technique, musicianship games, and music rehearsals, and the project was a wonderful opportunity for the children involved to take part in an opera, some of them for the first time, alongside professional soloists and a full orchestra.

In April 2023, Canterbury Cathedral’s girl choristers joined the period instrument ensemble, The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen, and a lineup of outstanding professional soloists, to make an album of previously unrecorded music by Johann Christoph Pepusch, who was a contemporary and colleague of Handel.

Released on the Accent label in November 2023, the album was featured on BBC Radio 3’s Record Review and Record Review Extra on 21 January 2024 (from 6 minutes).

The album has also been selected as an Editor’s Choice in the January edition of Gramophone Magazine, and has been long listed for the prestigious Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in the Alte Musik category.

The photograph on this page was taken on the day of the recording, at the church of St Mary the Virgin in Bishopsbourne, just outside Canterbury.

Canterbury Cathedral Singing Partnerships Lead, Helen Brookes, led a special visits team from the Cathedral, including the Organ Scholar and Choral Scholars, to deliver bespoke choral workshops to children in local schools in November and December 2023. 

These workshops were to prepare the children to take part in the massed choir, led by Helen, in the Cathedral at the Service on 10 December 2023.  The choir on the day included over 200 local children, and the Nave of the Cathedral was packed with their families in addition to the Cathedral’s regular worshippers.

"Thank you so much for inviting our school choir to sing in yesterday's special St Nick's service at the cathedral. It was such a wonderful service and an experience that the children will never forget.

I am full of admiration for your ability to bring 15 school choirs together and get them to produce such beautiful sound. What a gift!

Many, many thanks. It was truly special."

Co-headteachers, Barham Church of England Primary School

“I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for coming in yesterday! The children really enjoyed the session and spoke very highly of you. We would certainly love to have you back in, depending on your availability of course. 

 I have sent the YouTube links out to the children so that they can continue to practise at home and I will be practising with them next week over a couple of lunchtimes.” 

Teacher and choir leader, Chilham St Mary's Primary School

In July 2023, the boy choristers participated at the JAM on the Marsh Festival in the world premiere performance of The Sky Engine, a community oratorio by Richard Peat and Timothy Knapman.

In addition to the choristers, this performance featured children from primary schools in the Romney area, two opera singers, Rebecca Afonwy-Jones and Julian Close, an actor, Kudzanayi Chiwawa, and an orchestra of London Mozart Players and community players of any age. It was conducted by Michael Bawtree.