Never a dull moment for New College choristers

Touring and singing concerts is just one part of the enormously enriching experience of being a chorister, and one which has been particularly nurtured by the choir’s director of 30 years, Professor Edward Higginbottom.

He is a passionate believer in the excitement of performing and its value as a learning process. He has taken the choir to venues across the world, and in August they sang at the commemoration of the invasion of Poland — quite an experience for a group of boys aged nine to 13.

They learn how to be the equal of any professional musician, but are encouraged to engage with the culture and history of the countries they visit.

Writing about the most recent tour, Edward Higginbottom said: “The choristers have just returned from a hugely successful tour of the USA. In addition to 'wowing' the Americans with their singing (the New York Times wrote of ‘angelic accounts’ and ‘sumptuous readings’) the choristers encountered an amazing range of American history and culture, from the Independence story told in Philadelphia, to the Washington monuments, to cruising around New York after a visit to the Museum of Modern Art, to mucking around on Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

“They made many American friends, and acquired a first-hand knowledge and understanding of the most influential country of the 20th century.”

This is all rather different from the lives of their predecessors who started singing in New College’s chapel some 600 years-ago.

But one part of their life is still the same: each day they walk the short distance from school to rehearse in the choristers’ song room up against the medieval city wall. Here is where the real work goes on for the daily sung services in chapel, which transforms a group of ordinary energetic boys into a professionalstandard choir, capable of performing music in a wide range of styles, from 16th-century motets to newly commissioned contemporary works.

This is the process that choristers remember and miss when they leave: the regular detail of learning the music, exploring what they can do, and gradually absorbing the skills they will take with them throughout their lives.

Parents who are interested in chorister life often ask whether their sons need to have ‘special musical training’ to apply. But potential is all, and the answer is that the training happens as soon as boys set foot in the choir.

It is a blend of being part of a team, copying your neighbour, learning how to listen and concentrate — valuable qualities for life, which can be transferred into the boys’ learning in school.

Each boy is valued for his unique individual contribution, and is encouraged to develop in his own way.

The choir’s sound is vibrant and energetic, the result of encouraging boys to ‘to go for it’, to take risks, and to believe that anything is possible. Choristers emerge with a sophisticated knowledge of music, but also a zest for learning and new experiences which is very much at the heart of Edward Higginbottom’s educational approach.

He believes that as a society we hugely underestimate what boys can achieve, given the right environment and training, and that boys can respond just as well as adults to the emotional power and beauty of music.

Choristers are awarded generous bursaries at New College School, a small and friendly day-school five minutes from the college which values its close connection with the college.

They follow the same curriculum as their fellow pupils, and attain high academic standards, mainly because their intellectual curiosity and selfdiscipline is well nurtured in their musical lives in chapel. They win music and academic scholarships to senior schools, and yet still find time to play football and cricket in the school teams.

Ordinary boys, who learn extraordinary skills.