Following their remarkable summer tour, Ripon Cathedral Choir has returned home after a prestigious four-day residency at Westminster Abbey. The 60-strong ensemble of boy and girl choristers and choral scholars, accompanied by ten lay clerks, stepped in to maintain the Abbey's sacred musical tradition during the regular choir's summer break.

Over their residency, the choir performed four evensongs and Sunday's Sung Eucharist, bringing their distinctive Yorkshire sound to one of Britain's most iconic religious venues. The opportunity to sing in the hallowed spaces where monarchs have been crowned and national ceremonies held represents a significant achievement for the cathedral choir.

We spoke with one chorister parent to hear about this once-in-a-lifetime experience and what it meant for the young singers involved.

If you’d told me a few years ago that my children would be singing Purcell in Westminster Abbey, I’d have assumed you’d mistaken me for someone else entirely.

Before my husband and I became 'chorister parents,' we knew almost nothing about choirs beyond a vague awareness that there was one at Ripon Cathedral and it involved singing in robes. Oh, how little we knew.

Fast-forward to today, and we’ve just watched our children—members of the Ripon Cathedral Choir—conclude their choral year by performing four Evensongs and a Sunday Eucharist inside the hallowed walls of Westminster Abbey. I’m not sure anything quite prepares you for the moment you sit in the Quire of that ancient building, listening to your child sing music by Henry Purcell in the very place he was laid to rest. That’s the sort of moment where we as choir parents catch each other’s eyes and silently agree: Yep, this was all worth it.

More Than Just Singing

This past few years has marked a real turning point for the choir, under the energetic leadership of Dr Ronny Krippner, who joined as Director of Music in January 2023.

Tasked with rebuilding the choir post-Covid and the closure of the Choir school, Dr Krippner hasn’t just restored the choir—he’s reinvented it. Where once chorister training was tied to a fee-paying school, it's now open to children from across the area, making it possible for many families—ours included—to be part of something previously out of reach.

That accessibility hasn’t come without a new kind of commitment. Without a dedicated school, rehearsals happen before and after school hours. As someone fortunate enough to live in Ripon, I count myself lucky. Some parents drive nearly an hour each way—and still manage to do it with good grace and a flask of coffee the size of a fire extinguisher.

The children are divided into boys’ and girls’ choirs, each with their own weekly services and responsibilities, leading Evensong and the Sunday Eucharist. At Christmas and Easter, the rehearsal schedule gets so intense that if the kids sang any more, they’d need their own dressing rooms and personal agents. Yet, despite the long hours and logistical acrobatics, they rise to the occasion—again and again.

Sacrifice, Structure and Sublime Moments

As any chorister parent will tell you, being part of the choir isn’t just about teaching kids to sing in Latin—it’s about structure, discipline, friendship, and finding beauty in hard work. And not just for them, might I add. I’ve grown to love the tradition and rhythm of choral music too. I didn’t exactly grow up on a diet of Byrd and Tallis. But now? I find myself sprinting from meetings in London or Edinburgh just to catch an Evensong. There's something soothing—even healing—about that music echoing through the cathedral. It’s like a deep breath for the soul. And it’s our kids who create that space of peace and reflection. That’s quite something.

A Capital Performance

The choir’s end-of-year residency at Westminster Abbey was, quite simply, the cherry on an already exquisite cake. Touring London (for many choristers, their first time), the children soaked up the sights—from the Natural History Museum to the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Tour—before stepping onto one of the grandest choral stages in the world.

As a parent, you spend so much time ferrying children to rehearsals, fixing collars and watching them in services, that sometimes you forget what it’s all building toward. Then you sit in Westminster Abbey and hear your child’s voice blends in harmony with others in music that’s been sung for centuries, and it hits you. This isn’t just singing—it’s legacy.

And while we’re not supposed to clap (choral etiquette, apparently), I can tell you every parent there was giving an imaginary standing ovation.

Looking Ahead (After a Nap)

Will our children truly grasp the enormity of what they’ve done? Perhaps not just yet. But we’ll remind them. Often. Possibly on repeat.

Now, we’ll enjoy a few precious weeks of summer without 7am rehearsals before launching back into it all again in September.

Because being a chorister parent may be exhausting, occasionally chaotic, and slightly bewildering—but it’s also one of the proudest things we’ve all ever done.


Read Group Editor Andrew Palmer's interview with Dr. Ronnie Krippner after he was appointed as the director of music at Ripon Cathedral: Weekend Interview: Dr Ronny Krippner Preserving A “Gorgeous Jewel"