S.F.X facts for kids
The S.F.X. Boys' Choir was a special group of young singers from a Catholic school. They sang together from 1994 to 2007. This choir became famous across the country for a few big reasons. They sang on a popular song called "Alltogethernow" with the band The Farm. They also made it into the Guinness Book of World Records in 1998! They were the first (and only) choir to sing in all 49 cathedrals and abbeys in England and Wales.
Contents
Choir History
Who Were the Singers?
The boys in the S.F.X. Choir were all students at the same college. There were 24 main singers, called choristers, and 18 older singers, called choral scholars. Each September, a head chorister and a deputy head chorister were chosen. Six senior choristers were also picked. Many choral scholars had been choristers before. Some even stayed in the choir for all seven school years. This earned them an "honorary chorister" title.
Singing Around the World
The choir traveled a lot! From 1995 to 2005, they toured England and Europe. They sang in many famous buildings. They visited Italy three times. There, they met and sang for Pope John Paul II twice, in 1999 and 2002. In August 2004, they had a three-week tour of the Eastern United States. They sang in big cities like Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. In just 11 years, the choir sang in an amazing 90 different cathedrals worldwide.
Special Performances
From 2001 to 2005, the choir was a special guest at Windsor Castle. They were the 'choir-in-residence' for a week. This meant they sang services in St. George's Chapel. This tour often included singing for a week in Westminster Abbey too.
The choir released eight music CDs. They also appeared on radio and television sometimes. For example, in Christmas 2000, they sang carols live for six nights in a row. They often sang at charity concerts, weddings, and funerals. From 2001 to 2006, they led the Hillsborough Memorial Service. This was held at Anfield Stadium for over 7,000 guests. They also led the BBC Radio Merseyside Carol Service. This was broadcast every Christmas Eve from Liverpool Cathedral. In 2001, the choir had the honor of singing "You'll Never Walk Alone." They sang it to 45,000 fans before a Liverpool football match against AS Roma.
Euro 2004 Song
One of their most famous moments was being part of England's official Euro 2004 song. This was a special version of "Alltogethernow" with the band The Farm. The song reached number 5 on the U.K. music charts! The choir received a gold disc for their part. They even performed the song live on Top of the Pops in June 2004. They also sang it live at a friendly football match before Euro 2004 began.
National Champions
The S.F.X. Boys' Choir was known as one of the best choirs of its kind. In 2000, they won the National School Choir Festival. This made them the champions of England! What made them unique was that all 42 choir members were from a regular school. Some joined without much high-level singing experience. This makes their achievements even more impressive.
End of the Choir
At the peak of their success, the choir faced some challenges. Due to some serious but false accusations against their founder and music director, they last sang in a cathedral in October 2005. This was at Canterbury Cathedral. This started two years of uncertainty for the choir's future. For many months, the choir sang only a few times. When the accusations were later proven false in court, the music director resigned. The choir then officially ended in the summer of 2007. The director was cleared of all charges. The choir still exists today, in a way, under a different name, with many of the original singers.
Choir Tours List
- April 1994 - Bury St. Edmunds
- April 1995 - Venice/Florence, ITALY
- August 1995 - Lincoln
- March 1996 - Kraków, POLAND
- July 1996 - St. Albans
- April 1997 - Paris, FRANCE
- July 1997 - St. Albans
- October 1997 - Canterbury
- April 1998 - Barcelona, SPAIN
- July 1998 - Oxford
- October 1998 - Canterbury
- April 1999 - York
- May 1999 - Bury St. Edmunds
- August 1999 - Rome, ITALY
- October 1999 - Canterbury
- April 2000 - Bury St. Edmunds
- May 2000 - Ripon
- July 2000 - Cologne, GERMANY
- July 2000 - St. Albans
- October 2000 - Lincoln
- April 2001 - York
- May 2001 - Bath
- July 2001 - Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC
- July 2001 - Windsor Castle
- October 2001 - Salisbury and Winchester
- April 2002 - Lincoln
- May 2002 - York
- July 2002 - Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey
- August 2002 - Rome, ITALY
- October 2002 - St. Albans
- April 2003 - HOLLAND and BELGIUM
- May 2003 - Lincoln
- July 2003 - Windsor Castle
- October 2003 - Salisbury and Winchester
- April 2004 - York
- June 2004 - Peterborough and Ely
- July 2004 - Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey
- August 2004 - Boston, New York and Washington, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
- October 2004 - Salisbury and Winchester
- February 2005 - Norwich
- March 2005 - Durham
- July 2005 - Vienna, AUSTRIA
- August 2005 - Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey
- October 2005 - Canterbury
