Statement in response to the Dean's address
The former musicians of Sheffield Cathedral welcome that the Dean chose to update the congregation regarding the recent decision to close Sheffield Cathedral Choir during his address as part the Sunday morning service this morning (26 July). However, we found the Dean’s explanation of this decision insufficient in a number of ways. As such, we stand by our recent statements that the decision lacks a clear explanation.
As we issue this statement, a petition calling for the Dean and Chapter of Sheffield Cathedral to reconsider their decision to close the Choir has gathered over 2,000 signatures in the first 24 hours of its publication. We are humbled by this support and would like to thank everyone who has signed and shared. The petition refers specifically to the lack of clear explanation for the Dean and Chapter’s decision. As such, we will be sharing the rebuttal below with all signatories and supporters to make clear that our questions remain unanswered, and we look forward to the Dean and Chapter’s response.
Save Sheffield Cathedral Choir!
Rebuttal
Below we offer our considered rebuttal of the arguments featured in the Dean’s address.
On attendance at choral services, the Dean and Chapter say: 'there have been only one or two, sometimes nobody attending Choral Evensong on weekdays'.
Does closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir help or resolve this? No! Closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir will not improve attendance at services.
Our response: Music brings people into the Cathedral, so what's the comparative attendance at spoken services?
On recruitment, the Dean and Chapter say: 'recruitment to the Choir has been weaker than we would have hoped'.
Does closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir help or resolve this? No! Closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir will not improve recruitment.
Our response: Many cathedrals have widened recruitment without disbanding their existing choir (e.g. also in Yorkshire, Leeds).
On the improvement of choral singing, the Dean and Chapter say: 'we want to raise our ambition for excellence in singing, so that once again we will be one of the best, if not the best, Cathedral choir in the UK'.
Does closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir help or resolve this? No! Closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir will not improve choral singing.
Our response: The best cathedral choirs have built on their legacies, not sprung from nothing. It will be harder to improve the choir by making existing talent redundant.
On the flexibility of the Music Department, the Dean and Chapter say: 'should we be considering entirely new ventures, such as a short Sung Eucharist on Friday lunchtimes when the city is full of people?'.
Does closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir help or resolve this? No! It is not necessary to closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir to reschedule services.
Our response: Closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir is not necessary to reschedule services (e.g. Sheffield Cathedral moved Sunday evensong to an earlier time in recent years with support from the Choir).
On innovation, the Dean and Chapter say: 'should [we] focus on a new student choir, and from which we can build up our provision? Do we need more choirs? How can we make proper provision for boys whose voices break? Would this be a VI Form choir for young men and women?'.
Does closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir help or resolve this? No! Closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir will not help with innovation, growth or better provision for young singers.
Our response: The choral scholars (often University students) already sang their own services. A choir made up of University students (Schola Cantorum) existed in the past but wasn't supported actively by Dean and Chapter. Likewise, Young Voices (Saturday morning junior choir additional to the choristers) declined due to lack of support from Cathedral Clergy. In the past, boy choristers whose voices have broken have joined the lower voices of the choir and received support, while young women have been able to join the girls' choir.
On strategy, the Dean and Chapter say: 'We came to the view that it would be best to stop, reflect, recruit and plan, and then systematically build our choral worship in a new way'.
Does closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir help or resolve this? No! Closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir will not help with strategy.
Our response: Closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir will reduce input from others outside the Cathedral Clergy and exclude existing musical talent from sharing their expertise - instead, this objective should be achieved by working with the existing choir rather than scrapping it.
On reform, the Dean and Chapter say: 'it has become clear to Chapter that to have any real chance of renewing our choral life so fundamentally, an incremental approach is unlikely to be successful'.
Does closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir help or resolve this? No! Closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir will not help with reform.
Our response: Radical change doesn't require starting from nothing.
On timing, the Dean and Chapter say: 'Chapter’s view is that if we are ever to restructure, now is the time to do so. In the light of COVID many civic services in the autumn will not now take place, and even under optimistic projections we are not confident that sustained choral training will be possible during the autumn'.
Does closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir help or resolve this? No! Closing Sheffield Cathedral Choir during the summer holidays is cynical. Furthermore, closing it during a global pandemic is deeply insensitive and nonstrategic.
Our response: Other cathedrals have been providing choral education and community engagement throughout lockdown (e.g. also in Yorkshire, Bradford).
["The Dean's Choir Address" can be read in full here.]
In short, none of this justifies the Dean and Chapter's decision to disband Sheffield Cathedral Choir. The explanations remain totally inadequate.
Save Sheffield Cathedral Choir!
