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St Paul's Cathedral date for Ella

_{Thanks to Sheffield Newspapers for the following article. Read the article}_here_{on the Sheffield Telegraph website}

Former Sheffield Cathedral chorister Ella Taylor, 16, who has made it through to the 2010 final of BBC Radio 2 Sheffield Cathedral Choir is looking for new recruits to benefit from an opportunity to develop their talent, says Bernard Lee.

SHEFFIELD Cathedral Choir has vacancies for boy and girl choristers, one having occurred when Ella Taylor left in September – not knowing then that she is shortly to be heard on national radio!

Ella, 16, who has had lessons with Vivien Pike (Lesley Garrett’s teacher) over the last two years, has made it through to the 2010 final of BBC Radio 2’s Chorister of the Year at St Paul’s Cathedral in London in a fortnight’s time.

A chorister at Sheffield Cathedral for six years, she has recently taken up a music scholarship at Lancing College in Suffolk.

On Friday, October 29 she will be competing with three other singers for the title of Radio 2 Choirgirl of the Year and is said to be looking forward to singing in front of a live audience and a panel of judges with John Rutter among them.

Neil Taylor, Director of Music at Sheffield Cathedral, says: “We are delighted about this fantastic news, Ella was a wonderful asset to the Cathedral Choir and everyone at the cathedral wishes her the best of luck in the competition.”

Neil is keeping a relatively low-key profile as Ella is his daughter but he is keen to point up the possibilities and opportunities open to cathedral choristers.

He’s not the only one.

Internationally-renowned conductor Sir Mark Elder, for instance, known in Sheffield from his City Hall concerts as music director of the Hallé Orchestra, remembers the advantages of being a chorister.

“My musical education really started the moment I became a chorister at Canterbury.

Later, when I began my career, I realised just how much I owed to those formative years, singing all that great music of course, but also the discipline of performance and the excitement that came with it.

Well-known radio and TV presenter and personality Aled Jones has good reason to remember his years as a chorister because they made him virtually a household name at the age of 14, initially with a recording of Walking in the Air from The Snowman – the first treble to actually sing it in Channel Four’s animated film was Peter Auty, now a tenor.

Because he wasn’t credited (until 2002) many assumed it was Aled, who says: “I was enormously lucky to sing as a boy, and all that I learnt as a chorister has been invaluable in my work since that time.”

Choristers form part of an unbroken 500-year history tradition of singing in Sheffield Cathedral where the present choir comprises some 25 boy and girl choristers, aged between seven and 18, and ten professional Songmen.

“Choristerships at the cathedral provide a uniquely exciting opportunity for children with musical potential,” says Neil Taylor.

He adds: “New choristers do not need to be greatly experienced when they join – it’s the potential that counts, not achievement. Foremost, we look for a good ear for music and a desire to sing.”

As well as the valuable musical education, the encouragement of professional attitudes and discipline highlighted by Mark Elder, choristers receive free singing lessons from a specialist vocal tutor and music theory lessons.

Excitement comes, not just from performing Evensong and the main Cathedral Eucharist on Sunday mornings, but also regular radio broadcasts, recording CDs and tours, both in the UK and abroad – including Paris at the end of next July.

So there you are, if you have a son, aged seven to nine or a daughter aged 12-15 with an ear for music you can learn more about them joining the Sheffield Cathedral Choir by contacting Neil Taylor directly on (0114) 263 6069.

You never know there could be an Aled Jones, a Katherine Jenkins or an Elizabeth Watts (both former choirgirls) itching to break out in song!

You can hear how Ella Taylor gets on in Radio’s 2’s Chorister of the Year when the BBC gets round to broadcasting the final at 8pm on Sunday, November 7.