Empowering young people through the gift of music

Cathedrals have a responsibility to promote the very best in worship and liturgy, and their music, with its capacity to express what words often cannot, makes a major contribution.

In Brecon all potential choristers, whether from musical backgrounds or not, are welcomed. The choir is open to all comers, from all walks of life, irrespective of personal, family or educational circumstances. It is not a place for the privileged few, it is a place of welcome from which no one is turned away. There are no entrance tests, just a desire to build music into choristers' lives and to encourage and develop their enthusiasm. This desire has borne fruit in that a number of former choristers have gone on to become accomplished musicians.

Some have found that the fellowship of the choir has given them a confidence for the future and a self esteem which they might otherwise have lacked.

The welcome and encouragement given flow willingly from David and Hazel Gedge who have been respectively organist and assistant organist at the Cathedral for over 35 years. Their contributing to the development of Cathedral music in this place has been immeasurable, and the financial resources available both to pay them and to enable them to develop their work have been much less substantial than they might reasonably have expected. Furthering the work so dedicatedly begun by the Gedge's is one of the main factors underlying this appeal.

Over the years the Choir has been invited to sing in many Cathedrals both at home and abroad, and most recently visited the USA for a tour during which they helped St Michael's Cathedral, Boise, Idaho in celebrating its centenary, sang in other places of worship, and in company with friends, provided a number of concerts.

Commitment has always been great, the pace sometimes exhausting, but the standards achieved have been remarkable, as has the sense of fellowship and loyalty engendered within the choir.

The maintenance alone of a music tradition worthy of a Cathedral does not come cheaply and our wish to develop the scope of musical training offered will make even greater demands on finance. It is, therefore, essential that a thorough job is undertaken to secure our ability to meet our aims into the foreseeable future.

This will be possible only if EVERYONE who values our Cathedral and its music - Dean and Chapter, Clergy, Musicians, Congregations, Industry and Well-wishers - come together to mould musical education and the music at Brecon Cathedral into a living testimony to our generation.