The Royal School of Church Music Chorister Training Program

The St. Thomas Choirs are affiliated with The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM). RSCM was founded in England by Sir Sydney Nicholson in 1927, with the goal of raising the quality of music in the local parish church.

Chorister Training Program (CTP) in use at St. Thomas comes from the method originally devised for training choristers and fostering a high level of music making in the church setting.  The CTP is not a graded choir program; it is based on incentive and achievement.

There are three basic individual 4 proficiency levels. At each level assessments are made through five basic categories:

• General Training

• Musical Skills

• Vocal Skills

• Repertoire

• Christian Education

As children progress through the program, they are awarded for their achievements with membership in the choir, their white surplice, the RSCM badge with light blue ribbon, dark blue ribbon, and red ribbon, and finally a silver cross.

Many choristers attend the week-long RSCM summer course offered at various locations around the country, where they have the opportunity to work with nationally renowned church musicians and learn some of the more challenging works in the Anglican Music repertoire.  The “winning singer” for the year from St. Thomas is awarded the Harney Scholarship, which provides full tuition to the RSCM summer course. Partial tuition scholarships are also available.