Bristol Cathedral Girls' Choir
The Choir was formed in October 1993 and is now well established. It consists of up to 26 girls aged 11-18 and its membership is drawn from throughout the greater Bristol area - the only choir in the Cathedral to do so. The Choir rehearses and sings Evensong on Thursday evenings in term time, as well as two Sunday services each month, with some additional special services and concerts. The Choir sings a wide variety of music, both in its own right and in combination with the lay clerks (men) of the Cathedral Choir.
Their celebrated achievements in leading the worship in Westminster Abbey by invitation in January 1999, and their performance at the Royal Maundy Service for Her Majesty the Queen later the same year, did much to establish them as a nationally important choir. Their trip to Bordeaux in 1998 was a huge success, as was their visit to Paris in February 2000, where they sang a series of concerts and Mass in Nôtre-Dame.
In May 2002, as part of Bristol Cathedral Festival, they sang with the internationally renowned soprano, Emma Kirkby, at which time she agreed to become Patron of the Choir.
The choir celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2003 with a gala concert also featuring the choirs of Bath Abbey, Exeter, Salisbury and Wells Cathedrals, and commissioned a new anthem from David Briggs.
The tour of Belgium in February 2004, included performances at Brussels Cathedral and Antwerp Cathedral. In February 2006, the Choir toured Ireland and performed at St. Anne's Cathedral, Belfast and St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. Later that spring, their contribution to Bristol University Choral Society's performance of Mathias' This Worldes Joie attracted much acclaim. In November, the choir combined with Bristol Cathedral Concert Choir to give the first liturgical performance of Pearsall's Requiem
It is a compliment to the Bristol Girls' Choir and those who set it up in 1993 that many cathedrals have modelled, or are modelling, their new girls choir in the ‘Bristol Fashion'.