Leaders of the Schools Singing Programmes (SSPs) in the Dioceses of Leeds, Middlesbrough and Hallam were amongst those gathered earlier this week at the Fifth Annual National Schools Singing Programme (NSSP) Conference, marking an encouraging step in growing collaboration across the three dioceses.
The meeting comes at a significant moment. The Right Reverend Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds, has recently been appointed Apostolic Administrator of both Middlesbrough and Hallam, with a mandate from Pope Leo XIV to explore how the dioceses might work more closely together. The presence of SSP leaders from all three areas at the conference provided a valuable opportunity to begin strengthening relationships, sharing practice and identifying common priorities.
As one of the strongest supporters of music as evangelisation, Bishop Marcus opened the Conference by reflecting on the importance of prioritising sacred choral music as a distinctive and particularly cost-effective contribution to the Catholic Church’s mission of evangelisation. In addition to telling his own story, where as a seven-year-old child he had joined a choir, losing his stammer and gaining both confidence and a profound faith through singing, he highlighted a number of key ways in which singing the Church’s treasury of chant and sacred music bears fruit, including facilitating a deeper knowledge of the Word of God, opening up the possibility of an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ for choristers and their families and connecting participants with the richness of the Church’s liturgical tradition.
Bishop Marcus went on to emphasise the broader human and spiritual fruits of this work: raising aspirations and encouraging reflectiveness; fostering friendships, social development and a commitment to the common good; and cultivating Christian values and virtues. He also noted its contribution to spiritual wellbeing and human flourishing, and how, as an art form, it draws people towards the Beauty of Holiness.
These themes resonated strongly with Middlesbrough Director of Music Steven Maxson and with Chris Edge who is Hallam’s Choral Director and now works closely with Hallam’s Director of Education, Rachel Rouse (formerly our Deputy Director here in the Diocese of Leeds). The Bishop’s words are testament to a clear shared vision for the future development of SSPs in schools and multi-academy trusts across the three dioceses.
Chris Edge is the Choral Director of Hallam’s Schools Singing Programme
Bishop Marcus, who is also Chair of the Catholic Education Service, describes the Schools Singing Programme as ‘one of the most effective forms of evangelisation I have seen and experienced.’ However, he is not the only Catholic bishop to recognise the evangelising power of sacred choral music in fulfilling the Church’s mission given to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ to ‘…go and make disciples of all nations’. From its beginnings in the Diocese of Leeds, and generously funded by the Vinehill Trust and the Benefact Trust, the National Schools Singing Programme is now established in almost every Catholic diocese in the UK, engaging around 40,000 young people in state schools every week with whole-class singing sessions.
Jenny Trattles of ABRSM Voices leads a session at St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School, Beeston
Head Teachers are enthusiastic about the SSP which fulfils the National Curriculum for Music as well as the academic, health, confidence and behavioural benefits choral singing is known to bring. Inspired by the Bishop’s words, Conference delegates visited St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School in Beeston, where Head Teacher Lisa Leonard is an enthusiastic partner with Diocese of Leeds Music and describes the singing sessions as ‘unbelievably transformational’ for the children in her school.
The Conference featured many contributions from distinguished musicians and educationalists, who spoke with clarity and enthusiasm about the sustainability of their SSPs and its place as their cathedral’s or diocese’s key initiative for engaging young people. At Leeds Cathedral, delegates observed the fruits of the Leeds Singing Programme, attending a rehearsal with the Cathedral Children’s Choir and then joining the Cathedral Girls and Choral Scholars – all of whom discovered their love of music through the SSP – in singing for the Vigil Mass of the Annunciation, later hearing from Chris Devanny of the Leeds Vicariate for Education who explored the new (downloadable) Prayer and Liturgy Directory (PLD) entitled To Love You More Dearly and the ways Choral Directors and music teachers support liturgical music both in schools and parishes.
Chris Devanny, Leeds Diocesan Vicariate for Education
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