Choirboys at Kingston's Tiffin School are holding their breath this weekend. Will they make No. 1 in the Christmas pop charts?

The Tiffin Choir's recording of The Coventry Carol has been released as the B-side on actress Kate Winslet's single What If... and has been steadily climbing up the charts as Christmas approaches. This week it stands at No. 8.

The background to their hit has a show business fairy-tale quality. A year ago the choir appeared in a Christmas television show as backing for the Pet Shop Boys. An agent who heard them was so impressed that he signed them up and The Coventry Carol was one of several pieces they recorded.

These are exciting times for the young Tiffin singers. Yesterday (Dec 20) 30 of them took the stage for the last time in a run of six performances of Wagner's Parsifal at the Royal Opera house under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle.

Next month another 14 will be appearing on the same stage with Luciano Pavarotti in the first act of Tosca which opens on January 11.

"They are very excited," said their director Simon Toyne, "but they can take it in their stride. The Royal Opera House is familiar ground for them." Indeed, they are on first call whenever the Royal Opera requires a boys' chorus. In October they were on duty for its production of Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Simon Toyne, who is director of choral music at Tiffin School, is due to take over as the school's head of music next year.

December 21, 2001 12:00