Choirs all over the country have been affected by the increasing number of boy singers (trebles) leaving early, as their voices are breaking earlier.

This trend has posed numerous troubles for all-male choirs, which are often forced to do without more experienced choristers. Subsequently some choirs have started to avoid difficult repertoire, and are recruiting boys a year earlier at age 7/8 rather than 8/9.

This phenomenon could have serious implications for the all-male Cambridge choirs, King’s College Choir, St John’s College choir, and Jesus College Chapel Choir, all three of which presently have international repute, and considerable commercial success.

Mark Williams, the director of Jesus College Chapel Choir, says, “The sound of a choir is characterized by the senior choristers who have the confidence to lead the others after three or four years of regular voice lessons and concerts.  They are familiar with the repertoire and have developed acute aural skills during their education in the choir.”

He added, “The great irony is that the fruits of the emotional maturity that comes as a boy moves from childhood to manhood are of considerable value to the choir, in terms of understanding how to shape a phrase and how to sing with elegance and style, and yet are sadly short-lived before the voice starts to change.”

The choristers, however, remain optimistic. As one from Trinity put it: “…while I can’t speak for them [the all-male Cambridge choirs] with any authority, I’m sure they’ll adapt and survive: the tradition of singing with trebles at colleges such as Kings or Johns is too iconic, and commercially successful, to be allowed to die out.”

St Catherine’s College Choir is the only children’s girls’ choir in Cambridge. Other choirs, such as Trinity College Choir, which consists of undergraduate men and women, would probably remain unaffected as well.

An earlier onset of puberty and of boys’ voices breaking is nothing new and seems to be part of general trend including the generational increase in height. Research suggests that the age of voice-break in the famous choir directed by Bach in 1727-1749 was around eighteen. Today it can be lower than thirteen.

Studies have shown that the age of menarche for girls has also been declining, at a rate sometimes of almost twelve months a decade.