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CCCA

Welcome to the Chichester Cathedral Choristers' Association (CCCA). The Association was founded in 1977 by Richard Cock with a view to bringing together past and current Choristers and the musical staff of the Cathedral.

The Association also has a Scholarship Trust Fund which, as a registered charity, offers four Chorister bursaries. You can find out more about the Fund in our dropdown menu at the bottom of this page.
 

We are still here!

We may not be able to meet together for reunions at present, but our Association is still here and doing what it can to help.  Our Scholarship Trust is still supporting chorister places by providing bursaries and additional assistance where needed in these financially uncertain times. It is with many grateful thanks to you, our members, that we are able to do this.

We are also very keen to hear your news; what interesting ideas have you come up with to entertain yourselves and what music have you been able to make? Please pass on your news via our email (chichesterchoristers@gmail.com).

We have all benefited from the ease of access to listening to the Cathedral choir on the cathedral’s streaming facility and their YouTube channel. If you haven’t tuned in yet, you really should!

 

We wish you all healthy, safe and happier times ahead.

History of the CCCA  
Patron: The Lord Bishop of Chichester
President: The Dean of Chichester
Vice Presidents: Richard Cock Esq., Dr Alan J Thurlow & Jeremy L Suter Esq.
Hon. Chaplain: Rev'd David Burton Evans


The Origins of the CCCA
"In 1975 for the 900th anniversary of Chichester Cathedral, many old Choristers attended events and I was amazed that there was no association to organise events for them - it was all a little haphazard. I spoke to John Birch and he said go ahead and try to organise a summer reunion - I got the feeling it had been tried before without success.

I was a lay vicar at the time, but interested in the idea of getting people together - it was obvious that there was a great love of the Cathedral and of the tradition and of John Birch. So I roped in help from various people who had names and addresses and with the help of the Banda machine, sent out letters. The thing snowballed and after a year or so we had a small committee to help: David Graebe, Alex Villiers.

Meg and Hoppy Reid, who were great supporters, did the catering, Anne Eyre later did it, Joe Croney supplied sherry and wine. It was really a very homegrown effort - but very successful and on a very small budget - mostly mine!!

The format was basically a summer gathering once a year. I had tried and made contact with the larger organisation of Chorister Societies. The Clergy and staff were always very helpful - we used John Birch's garden and for the last one I did we tagged onto the Southern Cathedrals Festival and used their facilities."
Richard Cock | Former Chorister, lay vicar & Assistant Organist

Membership
Former Choristers of the Cathedral Choir are, by right, members of the Association. Parents, other relatives of Choristers and anyone with a close association with the Choir may be eligible for Associate Membership. To become an Associate member, please fill out the Membership Pack.

Contact Us
To contact the CCCA, please email us at chichesterchoristers@gmail.com.

Committee Members  
John Attwater Chairman
Ros Craven Hon. Secretary
Howard Jenner Treasurer
Charles Harrison Organist & Master of Choristers
David Burton Evans CCCA Chaplain
Andrew Porter Membership
Alec Deighton  


John Attwater
CCCA Chairman (Chorister 1981-1985)

John Attwater

John Attwater

John Attwater has been Headmaster of King's Ely School for many years. Born in Rutland, he attended The Prebendal School where he was a Cathedral Chorister, before winning a scholarship to Rugby School. After a Gap year spent teaching in a tiny Yorkshire prep school, he read PPE at Oxford, gaining a First. Teacher training in History followed at York University, and then after some time back in Oxford he took a temporary post at Wells Cathedral School prior (he thought) to joining the Civil Service. Ten years later he was still there running the Religious Studies Department and a senior boys' boarding house, and married.

In December 2005 he, Victoria and their two-week-old daughter moved to Sevenoaks School where he became Deputy Head. Sevenoaks gave him his first experience of the IB Diploma, now the sole Sixth Form curriculum at King Edward's. At Sevenoaks, he also led the planning for a £12m Performing Arts Centre which opened in April 2010.

John Attwater is a governor of two schools (including The Prebendal School) and on the Advisory Board of The SpringBoard Bursary Foundation. His other interests include reading, cricket, his family (now number two daughters) and restoring their farmhouse in Wales.

Ros Craven
CCCA Honorary Secretary
Ros is the chorister parent of Philip Craven (1995-1999).

Howard Jenner
CCCA Treasurer (Chorister 1967-1971)

Howard Jenner

Howard Jenner

Born in Lydd, Kent, Howard Jenner was a Chorister at Chichester in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was a proud member of The Prebendal School football and cricket teams. He still plays football, trying to relive the glory days of matches against Oakwood and Great Ballard. His cricket developed a little further peaking in an appearance as wicket-keeper in a Sussex v Kent 2nd XI match at Hastings, where the opposition keeper was one of The Prebendal's finer sportsmen, Tim Head.

Married with two daughters, he has lived in Twyford since 1987, jogs half marathons fairly regularly and completed the London Marathon in 2013. Having not sung for many years, he has recently joined the Reading Phoenix Choir where he attempts to make up for a shortage of tenors. In an effort to encourage the continuation of the tradition of choral music, he now runs the Walter Hussey Composition Competition.

Charles Harrison
Organiser & Master of the Choristers

Charles Harrison

Charles Harrison

Charles began his musical training as a chorister at Southwell Minster, and went on to study music at the University of Cambridge, serving as Organ Scholar at Jesus College. Before coming to Chichester in 2014, he held posts at Carlisle and Lincoln Cathedrals, and the Queen's University, Belfast.

Charles is a prize winner at two international organ competitions (St Albans and Odense, Denmark), and gives solo performances around Europe. For further information on Charles, please click here.


 

 

Testimonials

Catch up with our former pupils and former parents and see what they have to say about their time here at The Prebendal.
Meet Our Community