About
Our Mission
We strive to make the highest standard of music education and performance opportunities accessible to all children and young people across the Diocese of Leeds, regardless of background. In this hugely diverse area we aim to inspire, build confidence and develop teamwork and leadership skills; whilst advocating self-belief and inclusivity.
The Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme reaches over 6,500 children across the Diocese every week. Our sessions follow a rich and broad curriculum, offering the best in sacred and secular songs, all of which are carefully chosen to develop the children vocally and musically and feed into school collective worship and Masses. Lessons include exciting warm-ups and games and are led by our expert Choral Directors. To provide further opportunity, the programme runs a superb range of free, age-appropriate after-school choirs.
The Schools Singing Programme has been so successful across the Diocese of Leeds that it has been scaled up to a national level as the National Schools Singing Programme. The NSSP now uses our approach to lead singing in every Catholic diocese of the UK and Northern Ireland, as well as a number of Anglican cathedrals.
The Keyboard Studies Programme was set up in May 2016, in partnership with the Royal College of Organists and through a generous grant from the Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation. Whole-class sessions are delivered in schools using the tactile, responsive melodica to access a detailed curriculum building on the work of the Schools Singing Programme. Opportunities for further study are offered through individual lessons on the organ, piano and accordion with our roster of expert instrumental tutors. Former students have gone on to study Music at leading UK Conservatoires and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Many of our outstanding organ tutors and pupils can be heard each year as part of the Leeds International Organ Festival, run by Diocese of Leeds Music at Leeds Cathedral.
The mission of this Diocese is Leeds in entirely bound up with music. Look at all those young people singing tonight: totally engaged with the action and praise of the church, involved in the communal act in the praise of God, and from all different parts of the Diocese.
I am delighted to become a Patron of the National Schools Singing Programme. It is a truly groundbreaking initiative bringing the benefits and delights of singing and learning together to primary schools whilst also rapidly broadening the foundations of the UK's world leading choral tradition. I write music that I hope brings joy to performers and listeners alike and have witnessed first hand the thrill of these children learning to read music and exploring the potential of their voices in schools, churches and cathedrals. What a marvellous gift this is giving to our future choral community!
It seems wonderful to me that these singers are coming up through your own singing programme. A ray of optimism !
