Bradford Cathedral head chorister, Zachary Smith, is one of fifty choristers from Cathedrals across the country who feature on an album which has leapt to number 1 this week in the classical album charts.
Zachary, aged 13, along with Aled Jones, is one of the guest singers on ‘Jubilate: 500 years of cathedral music’ with St Paul’s Cathedral Choir. The cathedral ‘super-group’ is directed by Andrew Carwood and the album was released by Decca Classics and Classic FM last Friday.
Every copy of the album sold will raise money for the ‘Diamond Fund for Choristers’, which aims to help young choral singers and secure the future of cathedral music. It is supported by Classic FM presenter Alexander Armstrong – a former choirboy himself – who hails becoming a chorister as “the greatest leg-up a child can be given in life”.
The album, which celebrates 500 years of cathedral music with a host of famous choral tunes, was recorded in the astonishing acoustics of St Paul’s Cathedral . Music ranges from Thomas Tallis to Vaughan Williams and John Rutter.
Zachary joined Bradford Cathedral choir in September 2012, and became head chorister in September 2015.
On June 10, the Cathedral is holding a music department open day, an opportunity to go behind the scenes in the busy music department (see Bradford Cathedral’s website and Facebook page for details).