THE CHOIR AND CHORISTERS
The choir consists of 12 lay clerks, men who are professional singers but also work locally, and the 30-strong choristers, boys of 8 - 13 who attend St Edmund's School in Canterbury.
Each year in November David Flood chooses five or six to replace those who leave, auditioning them from the many who apply.

He looks for " an acute ear, the makings of a voice, intelligence and a sparkle in the eye."
The successful applicants receive a substantial scholarship from the Cathedral towards their education, and board in the beautiful Choir House in the Cathedral Precincts. They sing at services on six days a week as well as at all the exciting special events which occur in Canterbury Cathedral.
The choir's repertoire is wide and always expanding, as they learn and perform music from the 13th century to newly-composed works.
In each two-week period there is always a mixture of styles and composers so that there is something for everyone who visits to enjoy and to appreciate. To complete the staff team, the Assistant Organist and the Organ Scholar provide invaluable support and remarkable talent.

THE LAY CLERKS
The 12 Lay Clerks (4 basses, 4 tenors and 4 countertenors) are gentlemen who have a high standard of vocal training and ability and, while they follow a parallel career in another field, sing for the services during each week. Evensong on a Wednesday is normally sung by the Lay Clerks alone. Since the post of Lay Clerk is part-time (involving an hour or so each evening), it requires great commitment to fit the singing in and around other work. Since services are sung on Saturdays and Sundays, Lay Clerks rarely have a free day. The Canterbury tradition of Cathedral music is something very special indeed, since it is so vibrant and it encompasses both the ancient and the modern. At the services every day, we are given the chance to celebrate the great corpus of music written for the English choral tradition as well as the great examples from other parts of the world, both from Europe and further afield. It is an important heritage and tradition, one which is admired from all over the world, and we are dedicated to maintaining and enhancing it. It is a jewel in our crown.

THE CHORISTERS
The Choristers of Canterbury Cathedral sing on six days a week at the Cathedral services, making a vital contribution to the tradition which has continued here for over 1400 years. This is one of the longest-established musical foundations in the world.
Boys join the Cathedral choir at 8 years old and continue until the summer when they are 13. They can come for audition at any time, most often at the age of 7, but a Voice Trial is held each year in November. David Flood is delighted to meet parents and their sons at any time to explain the unique experience of a choristership and to discover and develop exciting new talent.
The Choristers live in the Choir House in the Cathedral Precincts, an ancient and beautiful building. They attend St Edmund’s School, where they enjoy an excellent and fulfilling academic, musical and all-round education. They therefore enjoy the family community of the Choir House, set in the grounds of the Cathedral, plus the bigger community and facilities of the school: a collaboration enormously appreciated by hundreds of past choristers and their parents.
Each chorister enjoys a substantial scholarship provided by the Dean and Chapter. They also study two musical instruments and have weekly theory classes. When their time comes to move on from the choir, choristers regularly win substantial scholarships to senior schools, either locally or further afield.
The Choir is involved in all the very special events which take place in Canterbury Cathedral and makes recordings, broadcasts and concert appearances on a regular basis. They are greatly in demand for overseas travel, especially as we are pleased to welcome so many pilgrims, visitors and guests from around the world.  

David Flood

Having begun musical studies at an early age, David held his first parish church organist post at 15 and has been deeply involved with church music ever since.  He became Organ Exhibitioner of St John’s College, Oxford and spent a further postgraduate year in at Clare College, Cambridge.

In 1978 he was appointed Assistant Organist at Canterbury Cathedral, a post he held for eight years.  During this time he was involved in many national and international occasions, such the enthronement of Archbishop Runcie and the visit of Pope John Paul II.  He has made several recordings and has appeared on radio and television as well as performances in Cathedrals, churches and concert halls.  He has given organ recitals in France, Germany, Holland, Australia, New Zealand and USA.  He has studied with Gillian Weir and Jean Langlais.

In 1986 he was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Lincoln Cathedral and, after two enjoyable years, returned to Canterbury in 1988 as Organist and Master of the Choristers.  He has been responsible for the music at all the special occasions, in particular the enthronement of Archbishop Carey, the Enthronement of Archbishop Williams in February 2003 and the 1998 and 2008 Lambeth Conferences. 

The Cathedral choir under his direction has toured in Europe and North America. All the Canterbury Choir recordings (14 in the last 20 years) have been greeted with considerable acclaim.

He was invited by the Riga Dom Boys Choir and the Latvian Ministry of Culture to direct a week of workshops and lectures on the training of boys’ voices in March 1997.  Annually since August 1997 he has hosted an American Children’s Choir Festival with up to 400 children. In 1999, he visited Australia and New Zealand to direct residential choir courses and give recitals and made his first appearance as conductor at the Berkshire Choral Festival in Massachusetts, USA.  He is much in demand in the USA to direct choral festivals and workshops, currently travelling two or three times every year.  In July 2002 he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music by the University of Kent.

The responsibility of daily sung services in naturally the most important part of his work and performing exciting music for the millions of visitors and pilgrims to the Cathedral each year is a great joy.

John Robinson

John Robinson is Assistant Organist at Canterbury Cathedral, and Director of the Canterbury Singers. He began his musical education as a chorister and organ pupil at Hereford Cathedral under Dr Roy Massey, subsequently becoming  Organ Scholar of Canterbury Cathedral under Dr David Flood.
Following three years as Organ Scholar at St John's College Cambridge working with both Dr Christopher Robinson and Dr David Hill, John was appointed Assistant Organist at Carlisle Cathedral and Director of Cockermouth Harmonic Society.
Whilst still at Cambridge, John won first prize in the Runnett Organ competition, and the Plymouth National Young Organists competition.
Extensive tours have lead to appearances in such venues as London's Wigmore Hall, La Cite de La Musique in Paris, King's College Cambridge and venues across Europe and America. He has broadcast frequently on Radio 3 as well as on many other networks, he has recorded for Hyperion, and his third solo organ recording (the complete works of S.S. Wesley) is due out in the Autumn on the Priory label. John made his orchestral debut in 2008 conducting Schubert's 9th Symphony with the Northern Symfonia to critical acclaim.