Looking forward to this fantastic project with The Sixteen and Harry Christophers - always an amazing weekend for our choristers, brilliantly delivered as part of The Sixteen's Talent Development Programme.

A great start to the term with our choirs at Leeds Cathedral - a thriving example of a programe connected all the way from whole class singing to elite performance, based completely in state schools. Here's this week's music, and our full music list is on our website.

Delighted that we've been shortlisted for this award, and the amazing shortlists across numerous categories demonstrate the importance and power of amateur music making. @makingmusicuk.bsky.social

Big step nominative determinism

A privilege to be the current musical custodian of this choir, with so much history and astonishing past Musical Directors...

Enjoyed a surprise appearance on BBC One today...recorded back in March 2022. Watch on iPlayer here: www.bbc.co.uk/.../songs-of...

Fantastic year with these young singers, just part of our 7000+ children a week singing programme. A wonderful cathedral choir based in whole-class STATE SCHOOL singing - a privilege to direct them. Also very pleased that the summer holiday is starting!

Our Choral Director vacancy closes on Monday at 5pm! A superb opportunity to direct two of our outstanding choirs and deliver our Schools Singing Programme to schools in the Blessed Christopher Wharton Trust. Visit dioceseofleedsmusic.org.uk/vacancies/ for more details and the application pack.

Come and work with us! A lovely job with two super choirs and a brilliant team of colleagues. dioceseofleedsmusic.org.uk/vacancies/

First day of the holidays, so naturally have chosen to do an organ recital...

Fantastic gig, great to work with you all!

So enjoyed last nights concert, particularly Reena Esmail’s piece #TheLoveBetweenUs think I forgot to breath. A real buzz of excitement in the seats around me after that piece. Well done Choir, soloists,orchestra, Conductor Tom (and Chris) and Reena of course - transcendent!

Today! Concert day is here. Next stop: rehearsal in the hall where it all comes together with the choir, orchestra and soloists ahead of our audience joining us this evening. 🎟️Bradford Theatre website - search ‘Carmina’ and don’t miss out on this thrilling live music. @visitbradford.bsky.social

Really looking forward to conducting Reena Esmail's This love between us - tomorrow, St George's Hall, Bradford. A moving and exhilarating setting of seven multi-faith texts - was really inspiring to speak to Reena about this work, and hope we do it justice tomorrow!

2 more sleeps! We hope locals have seen the great feature about our 29 March orchestral season gig in St George’s Hall with Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra in today’s Bradford T&A 🎶Choir sounding thrilling in rehearsal last night; don’t miss this one! 🎟️Tickets: Bradford Theatres @thomasleech.com

Back to normality this week...

Assistant Director of the Schools Singing Programme - Diocese of Leeds Music The deadline for this lovely job is Monday 5pm! The past few days have really reinforced what an amazing team of colleagues we have - come and work with us! dioceseofleedsmusic.org.uk/vacancies/

📣 brilliant work from our cathedral choir broadcasting live on Radio 3 on Wednesday - 150+ singers in the cathedral choirs, 400+ in our wider after-school choirs, and 6500+ singing every week in our sustained state-school music programme...no crisis in cathedral music here! 📣

Come and work with us! Laura is moving on after doing a fabulous job building our choir school provision and connecting with schools across our programme. A lovely team of colleagues, plenty of flexibility and opportunity and the children are great! dioceseofleedsmusic.org.uk/vacancies

Looking forward - with the usual trepidation - to this! Wonderful to have our boys, girls and teenage t/b from state schools across the city singing some of their great heritage of Catholic music live on BBC Radio 3. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Getting round to reading the Music Mark / @demos-uk.bsky.social NPME report... 'music is too often a peripheral part of children and young people’s education, with pupils’ backgrounds and where they grow up shaping the opportunities they can access' demos.co.uk/wp-content/u...

Looking forward to this, with a live chat with Reena Esmail, and introduction to Indian classical singing with Sohini Kaur - should be a great event and still some places left.

This week at Leeds Cathedral...

Off to work...playing the organ this morning, a bit sad not to be conducting Victoria's glorious Missa Vidi speciosam, but great for colleagues to get the chance to do this!

Closing on Monday 5pm - a really great role, could be September start for a graduate. Happy to answer any questions! Cathedral Organist and Director of LIOF Visit dioceseofleedsmusic.org.uk/vacancies for more information and to download an application pack.

Back into the swing of term(ish), and - shock / horror - playing the organ occasionally this term! Lovely for the choirs to have my colleagues conducting, and really good to get the changed aural perspective you have playing rather than directing, I find I listen very differently...

Rightly proud @thomasleech.com a model of inclusivity & excellence, producing beautiful music that’s a joy to hear 🎶

So proud of our young singers - state school choristers from across the city live on national radio (again!) - and the brilliant work my colleagues do across our programmes. Lovely to do this to an absolutely packed cathedral too - Happy Christmas! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The final push...including Radio 4 Midnight Mass. All the best to all fellow church musicians (and other choral people still going) for the next few days!

Beautiful (and slightly alarming!) music this morning at work - and wonderful that this is all sung by a large choir with its foundations in whole-class primary school singing. We've also got four other children's choirs singing for Mass across the Diocese this morning - hundreds of young singers!

All you locals: have you seen our Christmas concert banners? Here is tenor Mark, our super treasurer, next to the festive display outside Bradford Grammar School! Join us for a magical evening of music and tradition on Sat 14 Dec. Get your tickets now to avoid the queues! 🎶🎄

Organists! Come and work with us! This role's very flexible - I'm very happy to chat to anyone interested, and we welcome visits to find out more about our work. Visit dioceseofleedsmusic.org.uk/vacancies for more information and to download an application pack.

A big Bluesky welcome to my lovely @londiniumchoir.bsky.social! Give them a follow (and a listen)?

This week's sung Masses at Leeds Cathedral - looking forward to the Andriessen Mass, despite some tenor absence this morning!

The pace of renovation has slowed to an absolute crawl, but I did finally fit some temporary curtains to this bay today...given the pace, temporary probably means decades...

Listening to b minor Mass for the first time in ages, perfect counterpoint to the wintery outside. Really love this Parrott / Taverner Consort recording.

Christmas Christmas Christmas! With @bfcs1856.bsky.social Fantastic carols inc Roxanna Panufnik's new Glory be to the Word!

Beans beans beans! Leguminati! www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Baby Jesus: I'm hungry. Tenors: You need mirth, a heart full... 1911 print from the @bfcs1856.bsky.social library...

In light of this, so proud of my colleagues and the thousands of children we work with in the state sector with Diocese of Leeds Music - at the top of our pyramid we have a uniquely diverse cathedral choir, almost all of whom joined from our sustained state-school primary school sessions.

We have a brand new website at Diocese of Leeds Music - if you've not come across our programme it's well worth a quick browse through! dioceseofleedsmusic.org.uk

A fantastic choir to work with, so friendly and positive, really well run and doing a great job of building access, community work (with its refugee choir, Bradford Friendship Choir) and excellent music making.

Also a super start to the morning with an amazing state school KS2 choir soaring through the Willcocks descants (in Beeston, on places one of the most deprived parts of the city) and a Y2 class really improving pitch matching and sound.

A question re access to cathedral choirs: Are chorister places at choir schools also academically selective in any way? Does it matter?

Certainly not here in Leeds, where we see over 7500 children every week in state schools, have 150+ children in the cathedral choirs with excellent standards, 19 after-school choirs and lead on a national programme that's created 50+ new full-time choral director jobs. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

🎶 Tomorrow Night: Petite Messe Solennelle – Don’t Miss It! 🎶 📅 Saturday, 16 November | 7:30pm 📍 Price Hall, Bradford Grammar School Get ready for an unforgettable evening of music TOMORROW! BBC Proms star Jonathan Scott will be giving a special pre-concert harmonium demo at 6:45pm.

Rossini today, so many tunes! With Bradford Festival Choral Society, @kurisup.bsky.social, Jonathan Scott and a team of fab soloists. Please do come and support if you're in striking distance of Bradford! www.bradfordfestivalchoralsociety.org.uk

So much wonderful music this week...Duruflé Requiem at Leeds Cathedral, a super Jonah Man Jazz at a Beeston primary school, stacks of Tallis and Monteverdi this Sunday morning, and some glorious Rossini tomorrow with the brilliant @kurisup.bsky.social and Bradford Festival Choral Society.

I’ve had a go at a Choral Music starter pack. Quite small now but hopefully it will grow! go.bsky.app/3f3TTs3