Schools singing programme to expand to cathedrals across Yorkshire including York Minster

Supported by the Hamish Ogston Foundation, the expansion will give thousands more state school children in 200 schools nationwide the chance to engage more with music.

Simon Toyne, former president of the Music Teachers Association and now the foundation's project director, said: "In every school in the country you will find children with great voices. The importance of the NSSP is enabling those voices to be nurtured, trained and developed by expert choral directors, empowering them to sing in well-run school choirs and connecting them to their local cathedral choir.

"The British choral tradition is unique in championing young people to make music at the highest level, but there is a danger it is only accessed by those who already know about it. Our shared aim is to enable every child in the country to participate in this remarkable living tradition.”

The charity, founded in 2021 with £4m in funding from the foundation, is considered the nation's most far-reaching choral education programme, offering funding to religious institutions to employ choral directors. The aim is to combat a decline in access to specialist lessons and particularly to those in the most socially marginalised and economically deprived areas. It also provides pathways for musically talented young people to attend some the country's leading universities and conservatoires.

Until now, funding was only available to Catholic dioceses in the UK, but with this latest expansion is awarded to six Anglican cathedrals.

Cathedrals in Sheffield, Derby, Leicester, Liverpool and Newcastle, alongside York Minster, will now join the scheme, selected so that the programmes can reach the most deprived regions of the country and bring a musical education to those least likely to receive it.

The announcement comes as the NSSP holds its annual conference at the Diocese of Leeds headquarters, Hinsley Hall.

Ben Saunders, director of music at the Diocese of Leeds and consultant for the National Schools Singing Programme, said: “The British choral tradition is the envy of the world not just because we produce excellent music but because our way of working is unique and exceptional. As choral directors, we are transforming thousands of young lives every year and uniting them in the ultimate form of teamwork and community – the choir. The NSSP is key to enlarging the base of the pyramid of opportunity which is the foundation on which we secure our heritage and build for the future.”