They are the latest in a long line - a line which may stretch back almost five centuries. This week five girls and four boys were given the white surplices which show that they are members of Carlisle Cathedral choir.

They joined the choir last September as ‘probationers’. At a ceremony during last Sunday’s morning service the nine were made full choristers.

Mark Duthie, the cathedral’s director of music, says: “They have worked hard and were excited to become full members of the choir. It’s great that so many family members and others were there to support them.

“It’s always a wonderful occasion for the choristers and their families. One of our older choristers said to me recently ‘I remember my admission as a chorister - it was the best day of my life!’

“It’s a very special ceremony with a long history. The ceremony is quite formal in some ways. But there is always a great sense of celebration and achievement.

“All have now successfully completed the first stage of our chorister training scheme, where they learn the basic musical and other skills they will need as choristers.

“The probationers sing with the full choristers from the moment they join in September, so they take part in all services. They don’t know all the music at first but they learn a huge amount from the other choristers.

“They all have group training sessions with our cathedral music staff. We also pay for choristers to have lessons from a professional singing teacher. At the audition stage we’re not looking for a lot of musical training, or even singing experience.

“We are just looking for some aptitude, a good musical ear, and clear commitment and enthusiasm from the children and their parents.

“It’s great to watch them grow in confidence through their first term. We know from the auditions that all the probationers will make excellent choristers. The probationary period is just the time it takes them to cover the basic chorister training.”

Probationers wear a green cassock to sing. Full choristers wear a white surplice on top of that. During the ceremony, as well as being vested in their surplices for the first time, new choristers also sign the book which records the names of everyone on the cathedral ‘foundation’ - the list of choristers from previous generations.

The book dates only from the end of the last century. The practice of recording choristers’ names on the foundation list goes back much further, possibly to the Cathedral Statutes of 1545 which provided for six choristers: ‘boys of tender age and with sonorous voices and apt at chanting’.

Since 2006 girls have also sung in the choir. Girl choristers and boy choristers run as parallel groups, sharing the cathedral singing duties between them.

Mark says: “Having two separate groups of choristers makes the workload much more manageable for the children than in the days when there was a single group.

“Each group now sings on just two weekdays after school and they share the Sunday duties between them. Occasionally the two groups join together for special occasions such as the cathedral carol services and concerts.

“For the new choristers, this is just the beginning of an exciting new stage in the choir. Over the coming years they will continue to learn and develop as singers and musicians.

“They will have the opportunity during their time in the choir to sing a huge repertoire of some of the best and most rewarding choral music written over many centuries, and will have a lot of fun in choir into the bargain.

“I never cease to be amazed at just how much choristers can achieve. They are taking part in music-making at a professional level at an incredibly early age, and this sets them up for life.”

Mark says the cathedral choir currently has about 14 boy choristers and 14 girl choristers. “They sing alongside our six lay clerks - the professional singers who sing alto, tenor and bass in the choir.

“Both boy and girl choristers leave the cathedral choir at the end of Year 8, which is around the time that boys’ voices change in any case. For both groups, there is the opportunity to continue singing in the cathedral with one of our other choirs.”

The cathedral auditions for new choristers every June. Auditions are open to all children in Year 3, who start in the choir the following September when they begin Year 4. Details will be on the cathedral’s website in May.