Choristers are urgently needed at Paisley’s oldest church.
The Paisley Abbey choir is one of the most renowned of its type in Scotland and sings throughout the year at Sunday services and other events.
And its younger members – choristers – are dwindling in number.
Professor George McPhee has been music director and choir master at the 12th-century church for 58 years.
He said the covid pandemic has had a devastating effect on numbers and they’re appealing to children to come along.
He said: “We usually have a minimum of 16 boys and girls.
“But with everything that’s been going on it’s been quite difficult to get going.
“We had a brilliant set of kids at the beginning of the pandemic but some are getting to the age they’re moving on or going into the adult choir.
“We’ve had 18 months of nothing much happening and a lot of things have gone to seed.
“We’re more or less starting from scratch, we’ve got about four or five who are interested but need more.”
George said a lot of the Abbey choristers have a keen interest in music and many have gone on to study at the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow.
“If people are interested in that, it’s a good place to start,” he said.
“You get exposed to the great composers at an early age.”
Choristers start from age seven-and-a-half up to about 15.
Anyone interested is asked to sing an audition, usually Happy Birthday, which George said is an ideal song.
“Most of them know it,” he said. “And you can sort people out pretty quickly, you can hear their voice.
“We do train their voices as well.”
Choristers sing on Sunday mornings, occasionally on Sunday afternoons and rehearse during the week.
There is no fee to join and George said there are opportunities for the young people to perform at other concerts and recitals alongside the adult choir.
George said the live singing by the choir makes a huge difference at Sunday service. “It wouldn’t be the same without them,” he said.
“The services would be incomplete without the choir.
“ The choir has been back since the beginning of this month and we can see the numbers going up.
“A lot of people come to the Abbey for the music and the type of service it offers.
“It’s a tradition that has been going on for hundreds of years and we’re just trying to keep it going although it’s getting harder and harder.”
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To find out more about becoming a chorister at Paisley Abbey, call the church on 0141 889 7654 or George on 07774 402 812.
