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Girls' choir fills in 'missing piece of the puzzle'

BBC A choir of girls from St Peter's CathedralBBC
The newly formed Cathedral's girls' choir will perform at this year's midnight mass on Christmas Eve for the first time

In more than a century and a half St Peter's Cathedral in west Belfast has seen its fair share of changes.

But 2024 saw it celebrate a historic first.

At the end of June a new choir was formed - the first choir made up entirely of girls.

James McConnell, the Cathedral's director of music admitted the church might be "slightly behind the times" but it was his ambition to give girls the same opportunity afforded to the boys.

Aged between 11 and 18 the newly-formed choir has only been singing together a matter of months and now it is getting ready to perform at one of Christmas's most anticipated events - the annual midnight Mass.

Image of James McConnell sitting in front of an organ. He has short brown hair and is wearing glasses, a cream shirt and a green knitted tank top.
James McConnell has been the director of music at St Peter's since 2020

There has been an adult choir at St Peter's since 1866 and a younger boys' choir has been in place for almost 25 years.

Rebecca Morris said when she joined the cathedral choir several years ago the music was thriving but the she felt there was a "wee something missing".

That missing piece of the puzzle, she said, were the girls.

Since they put the choir together at the end of June she has been the assistant director.

Rebecca Morris looking at the camera. She is smiling and has shoulder-length mid-brown hair and brown-rimmed glasses.
Rebecca Morris says the choir gives girls a chance to "thrive and shine"

Rebecca said there was something special about a girls' choir.

"It's totally different tonality with a much lighter sound," she said.

Although it comes with different challenges, she said the girls had made everything easier.

"We're working with an amazing bunch of girls which has made it so much more special, and they've just been super from the start," she added.

Abbie looking at the camera. She has short auburn hair pulled back behind her head and is wearing a green dress. Beside her a girl with long brown hair looks towards the camera.
Abbie is looking forward to performing at midnight mass

The choir is made up of girls from different schools around the greater Belfast area and beyond.

Abbie was encouraged to join by her grandparents.

The 12-year-old said she loved singing and the choir had allowed her to make a lot of new friends.

"It's definitely upped my confidence because I wasn't very confident last year before I joined," she said.

Lucy and Rebekah inside St Peter's Cathedral. They both have brown hair that is shoulder-length. Lucy on the left has darker hair. They are both wearing green dresses.
17-year-old Lucy and Rebekah, 18, think it's amazing to have an all girls choir

Lucy's music teacher had suggested the 17-year-old joined the choir and she has not looked back.

"I was quite shocked whenever I realised it had taken so long to just get a full girls' choir," she said.

Although she did not have a lot of experience of religious music she has enjoyed learning new things, but more so the community the choir created.

"We get to come in, different ages, different schools and things, it's just nice to have," she said.

Christmas Eve at St Peter's will give them an opportunity to show just how far they have come in six months.