Memory Lane - Choral Music at Trinity

Choral music at Trinity goes back a long way. In fact, the Christmas Concert in 1908 is the first reported event where the school choir (under the baton of Mr H. L. Balfour) sang carols, some part songs and various popular choruses with the school orchestra. Such concerts continued and, in 1919, the creation of the School Song created a new opportunity for the choir to sing at the annual prizegiving - a tradition that continued until the late 1960s.

Music at Whitgift Middle School, however, was not of a high standard for many years and the choir nearly folded. It was only when John Parkinson started at the school as Music Master, in 1949, that things improved. Over the next 15 years, he organised and developed both the instrumental and choral side of school music. The choir began performing more in public, tackling ever-more interesting and demanding works.

In 1964, the arrival of David Squibb as Director of Music moved the musical capabilities at the school to even further heights. The move to the Shirley Park site in 1965 added new music facilities and the introduction of a growing number of professional instrument teachers soon raised the standards of performance right across the spectrum.

Trinity Choristers was formed in 1965, as a sub-section of the newly created Trinity Boys Choir. The Choristers started to sing church music to a very high standard in churches and cathedrals all over the country. The annual Cathedral Courses started in 1968 and still runs each year, providing the daily services for a week or more while the cathedral’s own choir is on holiday.

Trinity Boys Choir soon developed a national, and then international, reputation for superb “boys voice” singing, attracting commercial contracts for film soundtracks, jingles, recitals, and opera choruses. Many boys also undertook solo, duet, small group and chorus works for recordings and TV performances in the UK and overseas.

This first-rate reputation led to the Trinity Boys Choir singing the parts of “Fairies” in Britten’s opera, A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1980, at the Aldeburgh Festival. Then in 1981, began the relationship with Glyndebourne Opera to sing the work, with performances still taking place today.

In 2001, David Swinson was appointed Director of Music and, yet again, the abilities, capabilities and performance levels of individual singers and instrumentalists have risen to an even higher level. The numerous choral groups, instrumental ensembles, orchestras, bands and collectives are a testament to his skill and ability to employ some of the finest music teachers in the country, to teach an ever-increasing body of students who want to sing in a choir or play an instrument. While the choral standards of the Choristers and the Boys Choir remain ultra-high, with a record-breaking diary of concerts and recordings, the advent of a co-educational Sixth Form at Trinity, has added another string to the school’s bow. There are now some fine female voices who have their own commercial engagements, as well as undertaking concerts and recordings with the boys.

Trinity became the first All-Steinway School in 2012, another significant landmark in the school’s musical ascendancy. There are now 26

Steinway pianos in the wonderful new Music School (opened in 2017) and, together with the installation of several organs, these amazing facilities continue to drive the standards of musical excellence ever higher.

The future of music at Trinity is gloriously bright.