(25 Jan 2014) One of Britain's most ancient cathedrals will put an end to more than a thousand years of all-male tradition on Saturday, when a girls' choir is due to make its debut.
Canterbury Cathedral has had various forms of sung worship since it was founded towards the end of the Dark Ages, back in the sixth century.
But the singers have always been male.
All that will change when the voices of 16 schoolgirls will soar towards the cathedral's vaulted ceiling on Saturday.
The girls, aged between 12 and 16, were chosen after rigorous auditions led by choirmaster David Newsholme.
"They all wanted the opportunity to sing in this magnificent building," he said. "They felt rightly that this was going to be an historic event and they wanted to be a part of that."
Unlike members of the boys' choir, who live at the cathedral and rehearse every day, the girls come together just once a week.
Abby Cox, aged 12, said she was well aware they were making history.
"I think that's an amazing thought in the back of your mind that no girl has sung in this cathedral for over an amazingly long period of time," she said. "It's such an honour to be chosen."
Canterbury isn't the first British cathedral to have a girls' choir - others took the lead some 20 years ago - but the move has special resonance as Canterbury is the mother church of the world's 80 (M) million-strong Anglican community.
It's also another sign of change in an institution that's struggling to achieve consensus on the divisive issues of female bishops and gay clergy.
The Dean of Canterbury, the Very Reverend Robert Willis, said the girls would initially perform when the resident boys' choir takes a break each term, but he predicted the girls would come to play a bigger role.
Despite demands from some die-hard traditionalists that female choirs shouldn't be allowed, Willis insisted nothing of the cathedral's ancient traditions would be lost.
"There have been musical services sung here for over 14-hundred years," he noted.
"Now the girls will - as a volunteer choir from local schools - add to that tradition and give a diversity and richness to that," Willis added.
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