Alexander Armstrong speaks up for cathedral choirs

Alexander Armstrong has issued a rallying cry in defence of cathedral choirs, as news emerges that their funding has fallen by up to 50%.

Xander attended Durham School and Trinity College, Cambridge on Choral Scholarships, and more recently topped the classical charts with his debut solo album, A Year Of Songs.

He is unequivocal in his support of life as a chorister, saying:

My background in choral music has meant everything to me. It’s a fantastic grounding in music but it’s a discipline as well. I think you learn gravitas as a chorister, there’s a great dignity to it. 

It brings you into contact with a colossal range of literature, it’s very good for your maths, it’s a grounding in performance. It’s everything that the Brit Academy is trying to do – but times 100. Any child who has been a chorister is destined to have an interesting and fulfilling life.

We have to keep this tradition going because there’s such a huge repertoire of music preserved within those institutions. If one were to lose that we would lose a national treasure of such enormous size and value, that it’s hard to put into words.

On April 27th,  Xander and Aled Jones will host an Evening with the  Choristers of Britain to launch the Diamond Fund for Choristers, which will aim to relieve financial hardship among choristers and allow them to develop and flourish. It sounds like a fabulous evening. Tickets are available online here.