Choristers celebrate admissions and promotions into Salisbury Cathedral choir

Wednesday, 24 September 2025 05:55

Senior Choristers are given their medals during the service (Image: Finnbarr Webster)

As the new school year came round once again, Salisbury Cathedral began the term by promoting their Senior Choristers and admitting new choristers from probationer (trainee choristers) to full choristers.

During Evensong on 13th September, Harriet Edney, Phoebe Geary, Alice Griffin, Carys Hooper, Matilda Macmillan and Daisy Mills were promoted to Senior Choristers for their final year in the girls’ choir by The Very Reverend Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury, and Precentor Canon Anna Macham.

Probationers Arabella Luck and Phoebe Yuan-Richards were admitted into the choir during the Evensong service, which ended with the traditional ‘bumping ceremony’ where the new choristers are gently bumped on the head with a large prayer book seven times by the senior choristers, whilst reciting a chant welcoming them.

The celebrations continued on Saturday, 20th September, when Vinnie Harris, George Johnson and Kieran Zhu were promoted to Senior Chorister in the boys’ choir, and Joseph Al Hashimi, Peter Hooper and Sebastian Jarvis were admitted into the choir as Full Choristers, joining older siblings Carys Hooper and Samuel Jarvis in the choirs.

The boys’ bumping ceremony dates back hundreds of years, where the heads of the new choristers are gently bumped on a stone in the South Quire Aisle of the Cathedral by the senior choristers whilst the choir chants a welcome.

David Halls, the Director of Music at Salisbury Cathedral, said, “It is always a joy to celebrate the commitment of our senior choristers, as well as to recognise the hard work our probationers have put in as they progress to Full Chorister. As our choristers grow and move on to secondary schools, we continue to seek out young talent to carry forward the choral tradition of Cathedral music, ensuring that this treasured legacy lives on with each new generation.”

If you have a child who loves to sing, why not book a place at Salisbury Cathedral’s free annual event Be a Chorister for a Day, where children in Years 2, 3 and 4 can experience what it is like to be a chorister, meet the current choristers and enjoy singing in a special Evensong service.

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