Manchester Boys Choir

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The Manchester Boys Choir was founded in 1981 by Adrian P. Jessett and has since established itself as one of the finest boys choirs in the world. It prides itself on producing the finest voices without auditioning. It is currently the Choir in Residence at The Bridgewater Hall and sang to the Queen on the Hall's opening night.

Since its foundation, the choir has performed at venues all over the UK including the Royal Albert Hall, The Royal Concert Hall (Glasgow), The London Palladium for the Children's Royal Variety Performance, The Barbican and Royal Festival Hall. For many years the choir travelled to the Costwolds in the spring for a training week, performing a number of concerts across the area in the process.

The Choir has won the prestigious Llangollen International Eisteddfod twice, the UK National Choral Competition and were finalists in the Sainsbury's Choir of the Year.

Since its foundation, the Manchester Boys Choir has toured abroad on a number of occasions to countries including Finland, Russia, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Denmark.

The Choir has worked with the Halle Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic and the Manchester Camerata and has appeared on radio and television. The Choir has also produced many high quality soloists for Opera North.

After a tour of Finland, a critic believed it to be a performance from [[one of the finest boys choirs in the world]] The Manchester Boys Choir has established a worldwide reputation in a short space of time, without need for auditioning boys. Anyone who wishes to sing has a place in the choir. New arrivals will usually spend some time in the Training Choir before moving on to the Junior Singers and then to the main concert choir. There is also a male voice section for boys to progress to when their voice has broken. Most boys have left the choir by 18 years but occasionally some boys have remained into their adulthood. The following quote by a former head chorister embodies the choir's deep pride on producing world class performances from humble beginnings:

Individually we are ordinary, but together we are something quite special.

The Choir is now directed by Jeffrey Wynn Davies.