On Friday last week, a joint choir taken from schools within the Diocese of Motherwell Schools Singing Programme performed for the Association of Catholic Headteachers in Scotland at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow. The choir of 30 dedicated choristers were chosen from the school choirs of St Benedict’s Primary School, Easterhouse, St Francis of Assisi Primary School, Baillieston, and St Bridget’s Primary Baillieston. As part of the event, the choir sang four items of varied music including St Thomas Aquinas’ beloved hymn ‘Adoro te devote’ and the Glaswegian folk song ‘The song of the Clyde’.

Diocesan Choral Director James Greechan reflected on the event:

‘We are very grateful to the CHAPS executive for giving us this wonderful opportunity to showcase the hard work and talent of our young people. It was deeply moving so see the incredible response from the Headteachers and delegates present. There really is a huge appetite for our programme in Scotland and all the opportunities it offers our children. I extend my heartfelt thanks to all involved, especially the Headteachers of our affiliated schools, and look forward to expanding our programme in the coming years.’

One particular highlight was when an older chorister received rapturous applause after being invited forward to speak, she was asked about her experience of singing in the choir for Mass. The chorister responded:

‘Whenever you hear the news, it’s always talking about all the bad stuff that’s happening in the world, but whenever I’m at Mass and I’m singing I always feel like there is loads of good in the world and world is really an amazing place. It’s not all the bad you hear on the news but there is good and singing helps express that.’

If you wish to see more from this event or support our work, please follow the Diocese of Motherwell Schools Singing programme on Facebook or X (Twitter) @choralDoM.