Magdalen Choral Establishment to Include Female Voices

12 May 2010

Magdalen College is to be the first of the five Oxbridge Colleges maintaining a full choral establishment to include female voices.

The change will not affect the continuing use of boys’ voices, an unbroken tradition at the College since 1480. Boys will continue to provide the top line for six of the College’s seven services held each week during term. This is an exciting opportunity to enhance and support our world-famous choral foundation. We will continue to maintain and develop our traditional men and boys’ choir whilst also giving women in the College the opportunity to sing in their Chapel once a week on Saturdays.

The historic change to the make-up of the Magdalen choir, announced by the College’s Informator Choristarum, Daniel Hyde, who took up this post a year ago, is in line with the trend in cathedral choirs generally towards the inclusion of female voices, and comes a year after the College celebrated 30 years of women at Magdalen.