|TOP|Britain’s cathedrals are becoming increasingly concerned by the drift of the country’s boys away from the choir to other pastimes including football and computer games.

Choir schools across the country are facing the ever-increasing challenge to fill the choir stalls with choristers as they opt for other leisure pursuits in favour of the commitment to daily evensong and Sunday services, reports The Telegraph.

The shortage of choir boys has subsequently thrown the future of Europe’s world-renowned choir singing into uncertainty because of its direct impact on the recruitment pool of eligible adult male singers, which continues to grow ever-smaller.

Although the figures have fluctuated annually, the number of boys applying for each choir place has consistently fallen between 2000 and 2005, according to the Choir Schools’ Association, which represents 44 schools attached to cathedrals, churches and college chapels.

|QUOTE|The number of applicants for each place dropped from 2.7 per cent in 2000 to 2.4 per cent in 2003 before dropping again to 1.9 per cent in 2005.

The choir at York Minster is just one of many in the country with fewer choristers than there should be, with only 20 out of the 24 seats filled.

Philip Moore, organist and Master of the Music at York Minster, attributed the serious shortage to the decline of parish choirs, from which boy choristers are normally recruited.

The traditional choir has also suffered under falling attendance and the growing popularity of the guitar and drum style of worship favoured by evangelical clergy.

“Because people don't go to church so much, they don't have the commitment, so we are not getting the flow of boys from church choirs," said Mr Hale.

|AD|Paul Hale, the Rector Chori at Southwell Minster, whose choir currently had 11 boy choristers instead of the full 16, warned that choir schools would have to become a lot more imaginative in their recruitment drives to attract young boys to the choir.

The Diocese of Southwell even released a new DVD last month in which prospective choir boys could get a ‘behind the scenes’ taste of life as a cathedral chorister as the cameras followed them over the year, filming the musical, social and educational aspects of their lives.

"We start with boys who have no musical knowledge at all. We have to start pretty well from scratch. Before, you could put them in the stalls straight away. Now you have to train them for a year before they get into the stalls."

Roger Sayer, the organist and director of music at Rochester Cathedral, said: "Parents don't like making the commitment. That's been the thing that has changed.

"People are busier, there is a wider range of recreational activities and the commitment isn't as strong as it once was."

Jane Capon, spokesperson for the Choir Schools’ Association, said: "Also, you don't have to give up sport when you become a chorister. Many choir boys are pretty nifty on the football pitch as well as singing like angels.”