Girls to sing at St PAUL's Cathedral's Christmas Day service for the first time in its 900-year history

Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - Girls will sing in the choir at the Christmas Day service at St Paul’s Cathedral for the first time in the cathedral’s 900-year history.

The choir, made up of both adults and children, will perform on Christmas Day under the 365-foot dome of the cathedral in central London, in Wednesday’s festive service.

The cathedral’s internationally renowned choir, which dates back to the 12th century, allowed the first girls to join its ranks earlier this year. 

Lila, 11, and Lois, 10, joined the choir in June after passing their probation and undergoing specialist training.

The Right Rev Dame Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, said at the time: “It is a great joy to welcome Lila and Lois into the cathedral community. I hope that Lila and Lois can be an inspiration to other young girls as to what can be achieved in what is a huge milestone in St Paul’s 900-year history.”

The cathedral announced that girls would be admitted into its choir in 2022, taking the lead from other cathedrals including Salisbury, York Minster, Durham, and Exeter.

The first woman chorister joined the choir full-time in 2017 when Carris Jones, 35, a Cambridge history graduate, became an alto singer. The former freelance singer had worked on the soundtracks to Harry Potter and The Hobbit and joined Sting on his “lute tour” in 2006.

She said at the time: “It wasn’t just for me, it was for lots of my other female colleagues as well. I feel very lucky to be joining a choir that has been so keen for so long to get women involved.

“These posts just don’t come up very often. I feel really privileged to have been in the right place at the right time.”

Female choristers are now becoming permanent members of the cathedral choir and will play an equal part in the singing of services, as well as at events of national importance.

The announcement was made in May 2022 that girls were set to join the choir and that the Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral School would 'undertake the practical arrangements needed to provide a truly equal offer for girl and boy choristers'.