Christmas for a choirboy

This Christmas Day, children across Britain will be waking at the crack of dawn and dashing to their Christmas stockings to see what Santa has brought them.

It’s a typical start to the day for most children but for 13-year-old Matthew Welch, the arrival of Christmas Day comes with a hint of relief.

As head chorister at Llandaff Cathedral Choir, Christmas is one of his busiest times of the year, crammed with rehearsals, services, carol concerts, and before the holidays kick in, school.

Even at the best of times, life for a chorister is a demanding cycle of rehearsals and performances seven days a week.

“I have a lot of friends in school and we can hang around together there but I don’t often see them at the weekend. They understand that I can’t always do the things that they would do because I don’t have the time,” Matthew explains.

With extra carol services added to the already hectic roster, the demands on his time at Christmas are even greater.

When school breaks off and other children can set their minds on fun, choristers must continue rehearsing and performing at services right up to the Christmas Day Mass.

“It’s very, very busy,” says Matthew.

“When you do get to Christmas you feel rather tired because of the amount of work you’ve done.”

A typical Christmas Day for Matthew starts not with the opening of presents but with the scramble to get into the traditional cassock and off to church in time for some last minute rehearsals before Mass at 10:45am.

“I get up rather tired because the night before I’ve sung at the Midnight Mass. I don’t have time to open any of my presents under the tree.”

Despite the cool exterior, there are always some nerves before performances, especially if there is a solo to be sung.

“You put this façade on that makes it look like you’re not nervous but you are.”

In spite of all the hard work, however, the positives “completely” outweigh the negatives. For one thing, the presents and well-earned rest waiting for him at home are a nice reward when the service has finished.

For another, the choristers enjoy singing the carols as much as the congregation, with the descants at the end an especial highlight for Matthew.

And, of course, it is lovely to see the cathedral fill up.

“That’s a great reward because at the general services on weekdays, not so many people go to those services,” he says.

“But on Christmas Day and the services leading up to Christmas a lot of people go. It’s a nice feeling when a lot of people come in.”

For Matthew, this Christmas has even more meaning though. With his voice breaking, it is his last as a chorister and therefore, a “bit emotional”, he says.

Whether he will return to the choir as a lay clerk when he is an adult, he can’t say, but now that it’s time to hang up the cassock, one thing he is sure of is that he is going to miss the rehearsals and services that have been so much a part of his life for the last six years.

He concludes: “I’ve spent a lot of time doing choir and when it’s work, work, work, that’s the thing that has been in my head. But when it’s no longer work, work, work, then it’s going to be very different. I’m going to miss that aspect.”