New arrangements for funding music at Llandaff Cathedral will come into place this month.
Adult choristers will in future be contracted on a flexible occasional basis, to sing with the boy choristers in the Cathedral Choir for Sunday services and special events.
The new arrangement is part of the Cathedral’s strategy to address a significant financial deficit and protect the long-term future of its choral tradition. It follows six-weeks of consultation with those affected.
While it will mean that seven posts will be declared redundant, all the adult singers who lose their jobs could still have the opportunity to sing at the Cathedral on a paid basis under the revised structure.
The changes will save £45,000, and will help cut down the Cathedral’s estimated deficit for 2014 of £81,000. Action to address the deficit has to be taken by the Cathedral Chapter before January in order for it to fulfil its responsibilities as the Cathedral trustees.
Five part-time lay clerks, one part-time choral scholar and the assistant organist will lose their permanent contracts.
A spokesperson for the Cathedral Chapter said “The Cathedral values its choral tradition very highly. The music department was the last area of expenditure that Chapter had to examine in detail, and the last area where we could see that necessary cost savings could be made. At present the music department constitutes one sixth of the Cathedral’s total budget – more than the combined budget available for all energy costs and fabric repairs and maintenance. This is despite the fact that the Cathedral choir sings at fewer than 35% of all services and only during school term-time.
“Over the past six weeks we have considered in full all proposals put forward by those affected, but have come to the conclusion that the new funding arrangement for the choir is the best and most responsible way to secure both its long-term future, and the future of the cathedral community as a whole.
“We fear that the alternative of relying on constant fundraising for one area of our responsibilities would overshadow or diminish support for other pressing needs, such as the fabric of the building, and even then could not guarantee a sustainable long-term solution. Instead, delivering long-term sustainability must come from changing the structure of the Cathedral choir, strengthening relationships with other organisations involved with music, and developing the complementary roles of the girls’ and parish choirs.”
“We are grateful for the support that has been offered to us during this difficult time of transition – from people in the musical world, as well as the wider Cathedral community.”
