THIRTEEN year-old Martha Eddy from March will make history next Wednesday as one of the 16 members of the new Ely Cathedral Girls Choir when they sing their first Evensong in the cathedral at 5.30pm. And it will mark a choral double for the Eddy family

THIRTEEN year-old King's School Ely student Martha Eddy will make history next Wednesday as one of the 16 members of the new Ely Cathedral Girls' Choir when they sing their first Evensong in the cathedral at 5.30pm.

And it will mark a 'choral double' for the Eddy family. Martha's 17-year-old brother George, a sixth former at the King's School Ely, is a former cathedral boy chorister.

The girls, aged 13-18, are all boarding pupils in King's Senior School, and the driving force behind the establishment of the Girls' Choir has been the school's visionary Head, Sue Freestone.

Sue Freestone was appointed in 2004 as the first female Head of East Anglia's oldest independent boarding school which was founded over 1,000 years ago and boasts King Edward the Confessor as its most illustrious former pupil.

Mrs Freestone hopes the founding of the Girls' Choir will help reinforce Ely Cathedral's established reputation as a centre of musical excellence.

The school is funding the girls' choral bursaries and all associated staffing costs so there is no drain on the cathedral's resources.

Mrs Freestone said: "It's a joy to know that, at last, young women are playing a full and active part in providing music for worship in Ely Cathedral."

* Auditions for the Girls' Choir - and for boy choristers - will be held on February 3, 2007.

More information is available from the school on 01353 660700 or email: admissions@kings-ely.cambs.sch.uk