On Tuesday this week, the choristers and their families gathered for the termly Chorister Concert. The many opportunities that all boys at Pilgrims’ get to participate in and enjoy music is both rare and precious and for many boys it will hopefully lead to a lifetime of musical enjoyment in many different forms. 

Ordinarily, the Choristers are in the Cathedral (a huge venue by any measure), expectations are high and the mood is rightly formal. Although they are only boys, they are at work and they are doing a job when they don their cassocks! The Chorister Concert offers a wonderful contrast to their bread and butter: the boys are able to perform in an informal environment, surrounded by friends and family. 

All the choristers, from Year 4 through Year 8, play a piece on one of their instruments. Music in recent years has ranged from Three Blind Mice to virtuoso concerto pieces: without fail, Three Blind Mice (or its equivalent) gets the loudest applause! 

One of the most wonderful things about these concerts is to witness the quite staggering transformation in skill and musicality which the boys enjoy during their musical education as Choristers at Pilgrims’. The hours of hard work in an environment where there is so much opportunity pays dividends. Every single boy goes on a musical journey that will hopefully prove food for their soul….. even if they don’t realise it until they look back as men! Thank you to all those who play a part in supporting that journey at Pilgrims’, within the Cathedral and from the wider Winchester Community. They are very lucky boys. 

A Chorister parent