Please note that applications have now closed for Choral Scholarships for the academic year 2025-2026. We will relaunch our application process for the 2026-2027 academic year in June 2026, and the deadline for applications will be 1st September, 2026. The information below is designed to be indicative for prospective applicants at this stage.
Choral Scholarships at Leeds Minster are offered to students in full-time education (undergraduate or postgraduate; enrolling or existing students) at the Universities of Leeds and York, and to students at Leeds Conservatoire. We are very grateful to the Edith Lill Bequest and to the Pilling Trust Fund for their support of our Choral Scholarships, which provide a superb opportunity for students to sing with a very focussed and friendly choir, under professional direction, in a wide-ranging repertoire, and in one of the most iconic churches in the country. The scholarships are offered for a single academic year in the first instance, with the option of renewing the scholarship throughout the student’s time in higher education, by mutual agreement.
The Organ Scholarship is already filled for the academic year 2025-2026,but student organists are still very welcome to get in touch as it is always good to know of local players and to be able to offer opportunities for student players to get to know our famous Harrison organ.
Leeds Minster Choir is an adult ensemble which blends Choral Scholars with skilled volunteer singers. The Minster Choir sings Choral Evensong on Thursdays and Sundays during term-time, and at the Sunday Choral Eucharist. The Choir provided the music for BBC1’s Easter Day Eucharist in 2022, tours annually, and has recently released, on the Priory Records label, a commercially available recording of sacred choral and organ music by William Lloyd Webber. The Minster Choir has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and the Choral Scholarships programme is well-established and an integral part of Leeds Minster’s musicmaking.
Scholars are expected to commit to attending a baseline of 72 Minster Choir commitments per academic year, out of the total 100+ duties that the choir undertakes annually. They determine and communicate their chosen pattern of attendance on a monthly basis, and they are remunerated on a per-service attendance basis. This arrangement means that scholars make a substantial and meaningful commitment to the choir, while retaining some flexibility to determine their attendance, and balance their singing with academic work and other aspects of student life.
Some students choose to sing outside of university terms, at such times as Christmas and Holy Week, but this is not a pre-requisite; other students fulfil all of their duties within academic terms, and that too is fine. As such, the scholar programme at Leeds Minster is considerably more flexible than other programmes at many churches and cathedrals. While the baseline commitment of 72 attendances attracts remuneration of over £1,800 per annum, many of our scholars significantly exceed that baseline, benefiting from additional payments for excellent attendance. It is more than possible to receive well over £2,000 annually in remuneration for loyal attendance. For students coming from York University, travelling expenses can be paid in addition to the remuneration for singing.
We are looking for keen and able musicians who may or may not be studying Music at University. Successful candidates will possess a love of singing and some choral experience already, be that in a church choir, a school choir, a chamber choir or choral society, or a combination of those types of ensembles.
At audition, we ask candidates to sing a prepared piece of their choice, sacred or secular, which we can accompany at the piano if desired; to sing some scales to determine vocal range and evenness across that range; also to sight-sing the relevant line of a passage of unseen Tudor music, with the piano supplying the harmony of the other parts. There is a brief interview which takes place within the same appointment. Auditions are arranged at the start of term, held in late September, by mutual arrangement.
To apply, please email the Organist and Director of Music, Alexander Woodrow. Applications should consist of a covering email, explaining your reasons for wishing to apply for a Choral Scholarship at Leeds Minster, as well as outlining your choral experience so far. Applicants should also attach to the email a CV, detailing musical experience alongside educational background and qualifications, as well as details of two professional referees, one of whom should be a musician, and the other of whom may well be a teacher or clergyperson, or some other person who can comment upon personal/professional qualities and more general suitability for the role.
We very much look forward to hearing from you, and the Director of Music always welcomes informal enquiries or questions at any stage in the process.
