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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Kelly Burke

Unchanged melody: the all-boys choir that survived 700 years of conflict

Australia Montserrat
Escolania de Montserrat, the all-boy's choir pictured at the Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat, located on the mountain of Montserrat in Monistrol de Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain.
Escolania de Montserrat, the all-boy's choir based at the Santa Maria de Montserrat abbey in Catalonia, is to perform in Australia. Photograph: Escolania de Montserrat

Escolania de Montserrat is so old that it is not clear how old it even is. The all-boys choir, who live and perform in a Benedictine abbey high on Monserrat mountain in Catalonia, Spain, is one of the oldest vocal ensembles in Europe, and predates the more widely known Vienna Boys Choir by several hundred years.

Speaking from Montserrat, the Escolania’s prefect, Father Efrén de Montellà, says that no one knows exactly how old the choir is, but the first written records of its existence appeared in 1307.

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