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Westminster Abbey Choir School is a boarding preparatory school for boys in Westminster, London and the only remaining choir school in the United Kingdom which exclusively educates choristers (i.e. only choirboys attend the school). It is located in Dean's Yard, by Westminster Abbey. It educates about 30 boys, aged 8–13 who sing in the Choir of Westminster Abbey, which takes part in state and national occasions as well as singing evensong every day (except Wednesday) and gives concert performances worldwide. Recent tours include to America, Hungary and Moscow. Other tours have included Australia, America and Hong Kong. The school is one of only three choir schools that educate only the male trebles of the choir, the others being Saint Thomas Choir School in New York City and Escolania de Montserrat in Spain. The headteacher is Dr Emma Margrett who became the first female headteacher of Westminster Abbey Choir School on 1 January 2024. The organist and master of the choristers is Andrew Nethsingha, former Director of Music at St John’s College Cambridge.

History

The school is believed to have been founded around 1560, as the choir boys of Westminster Abbey have been educated there since Elizabethan times. The present school was built in 1915 (2015 being its centenary year) and underwent renovations in 1990s.

The three houses of the Choir School are named after the musicians John Blow, Henry Purcell and Orlando Gibbons, who were all Organists of Westminster Abbey.

Governors

The Chairman of the Governors of the school is David Hoyle, the Dean of Westminster.

Inspections

The school was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in February 2023.

Curriculum

As a choir school, boys are selected by musical ability. The Dean and Chapter meet the cost of their vocal training and at least eighty per cent of the cost of their education. The regular school curriculum is not neglected and pupils are taught the required National Curriculum subjects as well as Latin, French and Greek.

The choir

The choir makes frequent broadcasts and recordings. The choir's most recent recording is a CD of Hubert Parry's Songs of Farewell, which is on Hyperion Records.

Tours

The choir has travelled across the world to perform tours, most recently in Australia, the United States, China, Moscow, Rome, and Hungary. Generally these tours take place once every two years although this was disrupted during Covid.

Notable former pupils

• Christopher Brown, composer
• Tim Brown, choral director
• James Burton, conductor
• Alan Civil, French horn orchestral player
• Gabriel Crouch, baritone, choral conductor
• Adrian Cruft, composer
• Brian Easdale, composer
• Clive Farahar, antiquarian book dealer
• Neil Jenkins, tenor
• William Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire, academic
• James Wilkinson, author and former BBC science correspondent
• David Willcocks, conductor, organist and composer
• Guy Woolfenden, composer

Notable staff

In the 1950s, the celebrated singer John Whitworth taught maths at the school.

See also

• Westminster Abbey

References

1. Westminster Abbey Choir tour to Australia
2. 2015 ISI Inspection report
3. Recent recordings of Westminster Abbey Choir
4. Garry Humphreys, John Whitworth: Celebrated countertenor, in The Independent, 15 September 2013, accessed 20 June 2020

External links

• Official website
• Westminster Abbey Choir and Choir School History
• A history of the choristers of Westminster Abbey

• 16th-century establishments in England
• 1848 establishments in England
• Cathedral schools
• Choir schools in England
• Choristers at Westminster Abbey
• Church of England private schools in the Diocese of London
• Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster
• Educational institutions established in 1848
• Private boys' schools in London
• Private schools in the City of Westminster
• Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey
• Preparatory schools in London
• Westminster Abbey