Church Choir Award
The Church Choir Award, run in partnership with Cathedral Music Trust, recognises the crucial contribution of churches to choral and organ music. Recipients of the Church Choir Award received funding towards specific projects as well as a year’s Group Membership of the RSCM and access to Voice for Life Digital®.
Types of project funded previously have included
- A variety of outreach programmes
- Provision for bursary funding and scholarship schemes
- Different resources for recruitment
See previous recipients, below, for more details.
‘I could feel the standard of musicianship rise week by week’
‘given space for our junior choristers to learn repertoire and to grow in confidence and musicality … [the grant] indirectly led to a flourishing treble line’
2026 Recipients
Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon – to launch a new junior choir
St Bede’s Roman Catholic Church, Clapham Park – to appoint choral scholars and an organ scholar
Halifax Minster – to provide chorister tuition and launch a schools singing programme
Kendal Parish Church – to provide singing tuition to choristers
The Ignatius Singers at the Church of the Holy Name, Manchester University – to appoint student lay clerks
Lancaster Priory – to establish a Lancaster Priory Junior Training Choir as an inclusive, high-quality pathway to choristership.
Previous Recipients
| Year | Place | Value | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | The Parish of Boston | £3,500 | To provide support for transport to remove barriers to choir. |
| 2025 | Church of St Martin in Roath, Cardiff | £2,500 | To establish a junior section of the Liturgical Choir. |
| 2025 | Bradford Catholic Youth Choir | £5,000 | To provide an additional Choral Director at all choir rehearsals to support young singers through key vocal transitions, lead break-out sectionals for those moving from junior to senior choirs, and found two changing voices groups for teenage singers. |
| 2025 | Guildford, Holy Trinity | £6,000 | To fund a ‘Changing Voices Programme’ to support choristers (boys and girls) through voice change. |
| 2025 | Merton Park, St Mary the Virgin | £3,500 | To create a weekly Music Theory and Musicianship Club. |
| 2025 | Newcastle, St Gabriel | £6,500 | To expand the Choir Club and Junior Choir by recruiting two choral scholars to mentor young singers, lead services, and assist with Kodály-based training for 5-13-year-olds. |
| 2025 | Earley, St Peter | £3,500 | To provide individual singing lessons, workshops, ‘Be a Chorister’ days, cathedral visits and social events. |
| 2024 | Kingston-upon-Thames, All Saints | £5,000 | To support a primary school singing programme |
| 2024 | Chesterfield, St Mary and All Saints | £700 | To support a programme to increase the number of choir members |
| 2024 | Ipswich, St Mary le Tower, now Ipswich Minster | £5,000 | To support the church’s youth choirs project |
| 2024 | Crediton Parish Church | £7,000 | To support a project to re-establish choral scholarships and improve the training of junior members of the choir |
| 2024 | Manchester, St Ann | £5,500 | To support a project to recruit post-graduate singing students to provide vocal coaching for associate choir memebrs |
| 2024 | York, St Lawrence | £3,300 | To support the development of the choir and the introduction of mid-week services |
| 2024 | Withington, St Paul | £3,500 | To support a Saturday morning choir club |
| 2023 | St Mary’s Cathedral, Aberdeen | £3,600 | To support the recruitment of choral scholars |
| 2023 | Coventry, Holy Trinity | £4,000 | To support the appointment of two choral scholars |
| 2023 | Farnham, St Thomas on the Bourne | £5,000 | To support the costs of producing a recruitment video, funding a vocal coach and contributing to the tour fund |
| 2023 | Huddersfield, St Patrick | £6,000 | To support the provision of singing lessons for choir members, and to contribute towards tour expenses |
| 2023 | Leamington Spa, All Saints | £2,500 | To fund the appointment of two additional choral scholars, to increase pay of all scholars, and to support the purcahse of new robes, folders and music |
| 2023 | Solihull, St Alphege | £6,000 | To support a choral outreach project in local schools |
| 2023 | Southwark, St George’s Cathedral | £2,900 | To suppot a new children’s church choir for those in Year One and Year Two |
| 2022 | Chingford, St Peter and St Paul | £2,500 | to establish a chorister bursary scheme for its summer residential singing course |
| 2022 | Hull Minster | £7,000 | Increase bursary provision for young choristers and increase the offer of choral scholarships for university age students |
| 2022 | Ipswich, St Mary le Tower | £7,000 | Partnering with state schools in Ipswich to deliver choral singing activities |
| 2022 | Newark, St Mary Madalene | £5,000 | Widening access to singing lessons |
| 2022 | Nottingham, St Mary’s in the Lace Market | £6,000 | To establish three children’s choirs and work with local schools |
| 2022 | West Malling, St Mary | £2,500 | To increase support for its choral and organ scholarship programme |