The History of the Choir

Since October 2005 Ampleforth Abbey has provided the venue for a choral outreach initiative designed to encourage singing in schools.

Early in the project it became apparent that there was a demand for even more singing, so the idea of setting up a community children's choir was discussed. To gain some measure of how successful the project might be, in November 2006 all pupils who had previously taken part in the choral outreach programme were invited to come to the Blackden Building at St Martin's Ampleforth for a singing morning, culminating in a performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Around 70 children attended, and the morning was a great success.

The well-known composer and TV presenter Howard Goodall, who was appointed as "ambassador" for singing in England at the beginning of 2007, kindly agreed to be the choir's patron. Mr Goodall has written much music for television and film , and is the recipient of the 2007 Making Music/Sir Charles Groves Prize for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.

As popularity and demand grew, a First Steps training choir was set up for children in Reception and Year 1, and in 2011 a secondary group for children in years 7-9 was established.