This will end the 700-plus year old male monopoly over the monastery choir. It’s not the Escolania choir itself, composed of 45 boys aged 9 to 14, that will open up to women, but actually a new mixed chamber choir consisting of 25 young women and men aged between 17 and 24 that will sit alongside the boys’ choir. A special hymn to the Virgin called El Virolai sung by the Escolania choir begins with the words “rose of April, dark-skinned woman of the mountain”. The Escolania boys choir performing in the basilica of the Abbey of Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain. Top image: The Escolania boys choir performing in the Abbey of Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain.

Source: The Guardian March 19, 2023 14:11 UTC