MORE than 50 children enjoyed an open-day Sunday afternoon at Ripon Cathedral, to explore whether they might like to audition for the cathedral choir. After a rehearsal with the choir and the cathedral music staff, they had a treasure hunt around the cathedral, including places that are normally off-limits to visitors. There was a break for refreshments, and then the children rejoined the cathedral choir to rehearse and sing evensong.

Meanwhile, parents had the opportunity to tour the cathedral, meet the staff, and parents of the choristers, attend a presentation about the cathedral and choir, and sit in on the rehearsal. Auditions to join the choir will take place throughout May and June, and the new probationers will start in September.

"Singing is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways of making music with other people," the cathedral's director of music, Andrew Bryden, says, "and the academic and social benefits to children engaged in this sort of musical activity are well documented."