Choir of Leeds Minster

03/09/2026

On Sunday 6th September, we are grateful to members of St Peter's Singers & Friends for forming a choir to sing at the 10.30am Eucharist, while the Minster Choir rounds off its summer break.

We are keeping this Sunday morning as Dedication Sunday (2nd September 1841 marked the 185th anniversary of the current church's consecration). The choir will sing Tomas Luis da Victoria's Missa Simile est Regnum Caelorum, and Anton Bruckner's Locus iste.

Said Evening Prayer with hymns and organ music will take place at 5.30pm.

26/08/2026

LUNCHTIME ORGAN MUSIC
Our popular series of Lunchtime Organ Music returns on Friday 11th September at 1.00pm, and we are so looking forward to the term ahead! All our concerts are free to attend, and they showcase our outstanding Harrison & Harrison organ. Whether you pop across during your lunchbreak, or combine the recital with shopping or lunch in town, you will be made very welcome and will be treated to some wonderful live music by a talented array of performers on the King of Instruments*! We hope to welcome you soon.
* W.A. Mozart (1756-1791)

25/08/2026

A final call for Choral Scholar applicants (closing one week today, Tuesday 1st September). Contralto, countertenor, tenor and bass applicants studying a university/conservatoire course at a Yorkshire institution are very welcome to apply for a Choral Scholarship at Leeds Minster.
Please do make contact with the Director of Music, Alexander Woodrow ([email protected]) for any further information, or to submit an application.
www.leedsminster.org/music/scholarships/ gives full information about the awards and the application and audition process.
We look forward to hearing from you!

CHORAL SCHOLARSHIP VACANCIES for 2026-2027

Leeds Minster Choir seeks to recruit Alto, Tenor and Bass Choral Scholars for the academic year 2026-2027.

We believe these positions offer superb opportunities for young musicians to immerse themselves in the work of a thriving liturgical choir at the heart of a warm and welcoming community. Our Choral Scholarships are open to talented and committed students aged 18+, and full details, including the application route, may be found here: www.leedsminster.org/music/scholarships/

Please note the deadline of 1st September, 2026, and the invitation to make contact with the Director of Music, Alex Woodrow, with any informal enquiries or questions at any stage.

We look forward to hearing from you!

23/08/2026

The Choir of Leeds Minster have returned from their enjoyable weekend at Chester Cathedral, providing music for their services from Friday until this evening.

Our repertoire for Saturday and Sunday included:

Saturday 22nd August, 4.15pm Choral Evensong
Humphrey Clucas Responses
Psalm 108
Jesus College Service | William Mathias
Antiphon (Let all the world) | Ralph Vaughan Williams
Carillon | William Mathias

Sunday 23rd August
10.30am Cathedral Eucharist
Missa Brevis | Jonathan Dove
Surely thou hast tasted that the Lord is good | Bernard Rose
Toccata-Carillon | Brian Longthorne

3.00pm Choral Evensong
Responses | Humphrey Clucas
Psalm 114
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in E | Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace | Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Prelude, Fugue and Passacaglia | Paul Ritchie

We have had a wonderful weekend together, sharing our music with the congregation and visitors to Chester Cathedral.

The music has been very diverse, with today bringing the contemporary Mass setting from Jonathan Dove, and the always beautiful SS Wesley E major canticles as part of Choral Evensong (written whilst he was at Leeds Minster).

Thank you to everyone who came along to support us and to the Clergy at Chester.

The biggest thanks must go to Shaun Turnbull for his incredible organ playing throughout, and to Alex Woodrow for his excellent musical direction and organising the entire weekend!

23/08/2026

🎶 Friday’s Choral Evensong at Chester Cathedral

A beautiful start to the Choir of Leeds Minster’s weekend visit to Chester Cathedral, with Friday evening’s Choral Evensong sung in the magnificent surroundings of the Cathedral.

📅 Friday 21 August

🎵 William Byrd — Responses
📖 Psalm 106, vv. 1–12
🎶 William Byrd — The Second Service
🎹 John Blitheman — In Pace

If you weren’t able to join us in person, you can now watch the full service back on YouTube and enjoy the music again from wherever you are. 🎥⛪️

👉 Watch the full service:

https://www.youtube.com/live/1IUo-gnwcOM?is=h8tS0rbvCkggY275

A wonderful beginning to our three days of music-making at Chester Cathedral. 🎶

The Cathedral Clergy lead Choral Evensong on Friday 21 August 2026...

22/08/2026

Day 1 of the Choir Tour completed!

The members of the Choir arrived to a great welcome from Chester Cathedral and thoroughly enjoyed our first experience of singing in the beautiful Choir Stalls, with everyone in fine voice as we sang Friday night Choral Evensong:

William Byrd Responses
Psalm 106 vv 1-12
The Second Service | William Byrd
In Pace | John Blitheman
Postlude pour l'office de complies | Jehan Alain

Following the service, we were delighted to attend a private drinks reception hosted by the Cathedral Clergy, which was a great opportunity to relax after our journey and chat to the team from Chester, including Canon Anthony and Precenter and vice Dean Rosie.

One of the real pleasures of the evening was meeting Bishop Sam Corley (Bishop of Stockport), who was at Leeds Minster from 2015 until 2021.

We will be singing at Chester Cathedral for the rest of the weekend, with Choral Evensong on Saturday August 22nd at 4:15pm, and two services on Sunday August 23rd - Cathedral Eucharist at 10:30am and Choral Evensong at 3:00pm.

If you are in Chester please do come along to hear us sing a varied programme from William Mathias, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Bernard Rose and Jonathan Dove.

Chester Cathedral

20/08/2026

🥾🎹🌿

Friday saw the beginning of the end: the equivalent of three marathons covered, with one to go! 🥾🏃‍♂️🥾

The morning was given over to a recital at the beautiful All Saints’ Church, Thornton-le-Dale ⛪️, itself a charming village and a great favourite of walkers 🚶‍♂️🌳. The digital organ sounded very well and colourfully within this lovely church, clearly cherished by a steadfast village community. The floral displays 🌸, including a special flourish upon a pair of hiking boots 🥾🌺, were quite splendid!

Amongst the music was Ena Baga’s wonderfully joyful and light Bagatelle 🎹🎶, which again went down so well. It was great to showcase this exuberant and uplifting little piece during a week of trekking across Yorkshire 🗺️💚: it lifted my spirits as well as those of the audiences! 😊🎵

Tea ☕️ and cake 🍰 then spurred me on for my 16-mile continuous hike 🥾 across spectacular Dalby Forest 🌲 and the North York Moors ⛰️, towards the hamlet of Harwood Dale.

I was fortunate to have excellent company throughout this arduous seven-hour trek 👣, in the form of one of the altos from my Huddersfield Chamber Choir 🎶, which really lifted the spirits, despite my, by that stage, crestfallen and protesting feet! 😅🥾🦶

Upon arrival at Harwood Dale, I was pleased to have time for a quiet pint 🍺 in bucolic valley surroundings 🌿, before resting overnight in a comfortable farm-based B&B 🛏️ in anticipation of my final exertions — and the journey to Scarborough itself the following morning. 🌊🌅

One more day to go… 🥾🎹🌊

19/08/2026

We are very much looking forward to singing the services at Chester Cathedral between Friday 21st August and Sunday 23rd August.

Friday 21st August, 5.30pm Choral Evensong
William Byrd Responses
Psalm 106 vv 1-12
The Second Service | William Byrd
In Pace | John Blitheman
Postlude pour l'office de complies | Jehan Alain

Saturday 22nd August, 4.15pm Choral Evensong
Humphrey Clucas Responses
Psalm 108
Jesus College Service | William Mathias
Antiphon (Let all the world) | Ralph Vaughan Williams
Carillon | William Mathias

Sunday 23rd August
10.30am Cathedral Eucharist
Missa Brevis | Jonathan Dove
Surely thou hast tasted that the Lord is good | Bernard Rose
Toccata-Carillon | Brian Longthorne

3.00pm Choral Evensong
Responses | Humphrey Clucas
Psalm 114
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in E | Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace | Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Prelude, Fugue and Passacaglia | Paul Ritchie

18/08/2026

We wish to record our grateful thanks to The Ouseley Trust, who have generously granted us £3,400 towards our Choral Scholarship programme. This money specifically allows us to continue to remunerate our scholarship positions at National Living Wage level throughout the 2026-2027 academic year, as is right and proper, by providing the differential between those expenses and previous years' budgeted expenditure. We thank The Ouseley Trust for their kind donation and for their support of church music here in Leeds.

(Pictured: Revd Frederick A G Ouseley Bt., 1825-1889)