Music

Music is a vital and important part of the Cathedral’s life. Choral Evensong is sung on Sunday at 1600hrs and on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 1730hrs (unless otherwise indicated). The monthly music sheet can be downloaded by clicking here.

The Cathedral's choir consists of two teams of boy and girl choristers, with alto, tenor, and bass parts sung by choral scholars from Leicester and De Montfort Universities together with voluntary songmen. The choir has sung in many venues, in cathedrals and in cities as far afield as Strasbourg, Liverpool, Rhode Island USA and Tokyo.

The choral life of Leicester Cathedral maintains links with its past through the Old Choristers Association, and with its future through the Choir Outreach Project, which is part of a government initiative to get school children singing and to expose them to the benefits of the choral tradition.

Of course, the Cathedral's musical life does not revolve solely around its choir. The Cathedral's main organ, for example, is a fine example of the work of organ-builders Harrison and Harrison. Details of forthcoming organ recitals and organ related events can be found by clicking here.

Director of Music

Leicester's current Director of Music is Dr. Christopher Johns. Christopher began his musical career as a chorister at Derby Cathedral. He was a Choral Exhibitioner at Jesus College, Cambridge (where he read Modern and Mediaeval Languages and then completed an M.Phil in Linguistics) and then spent five years living in Germany, first as Assistant Choirmaster at Osnabrück Cathedral and then as a student of Church Music in Düsseldorf. He returned to the UK in 2003 to study for a Ph.D. in Linguistics at Durham (where he was Cathedral Organ Scholar and Conductor of the University Orchestra).

Before joining Leicester Cathedral, Christopher was Choral Director in the Diocese of Leeds (based at Leeds Cathedral), Conductor of Tees Valley Youth Orchestra, and Deputy Chorus Master of Leeds Philharmonic Society.

He can be contacted by email at Chris.Johns@leccofe.org, or by telephone on 0116 261 5374 (Song School).