The Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral has three choirs. The Boys' Choir was established in 1959, and in recent years two more choirs have been formed: The Junior Girls' Choir and The Senior Girls' Choir.

All the Choristers of Wales’ National Roman Catholic Cathedral - the Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral of St David - are educated at the leading independent school St John’s College, located in Old St Mellons, a leafy suburb approximately 3 miles from the centre of Cardiff. The Alto, Tenor and Bass parts are sung by Lay Clerks and Choral Scholars who combine singing at the Cathedral with either teaching rôles at the Choir School St John’s College (Cardiff), or postgraduate study at Cardiff University or the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, or freelance singing, including work with Welsh National Opera and the BBC. Choral Scholarships are also available to pupils of St John's College preparing for A-levels and Oxbridge applications.

The cathedral choirs give concerts in St David’s Hall each year, and maintains a close association with Nazareth House in Cardiff. The choirs have also performed further afield, in some of the most beautiful venues in Western Europe. Recent trips have included performances in Bruges (Belgium), Ribe (Denmark), at the splendid Cathedral of Nôtre Dame in Paris, and at the wonderful Gothic Cathedral in Amiens. In September 2006, the Choir enjoyed a highly successful tour of the Netherlands, and exchange project with the Choir of St Bavo's Cathedral in Haarlem. This October, the Dutch Choir returned to the United Kingdom for a busy tour, which included a concert at Merton College, Oxford. The highlight of the trip was a concert performed by the combined forces of St Bavo’s Cathedral Choir, the Metropolitan Cathedral Choir and Llandaff Cathedral Choral Society (both of which are conducted by Dominic Neville), featuring Thomas Tallis’ magnificent 40-part motet, Spem in Alium (at St Peter's Church, Cardiff).  The Choirs can be heard in live broadcasts, on BBC Radio 4, and BBC Radio Wales, and extracts from our recordings can be downloaded from this website.

“For many in Cardiff, regardless of religious denomination, the annual Christmas performance by the Cardiff (St David’s) Metropolitan Cathedral Choir, in St. David’s Hall, is a highlight of the year - a tribute to the ability of this choir, under David Neville’s inspired direction, to produce singing of the highest standard which is at one and the same time an embodiment of worship and praise to the greater glory of God.”

Archbishop of Wales Award for Church Music citation 1997
(Chairman: Dr. George Guest, St. John’s College, Cambridge)

David Neville was a Chorister at the reopening of the Metropolitan Cathedral in 1959, and was sub-organist at the cathedral before studying at the University of Bristol, and at Cambridge University (Pembroke College). He recently completed 25 years as Director of Music and Organist at the Metropolitan Cathedral before which he was Assistant Conductor of the National Chorus of Wales. He is the first appointed Head of St John’s College (where he also teaches Advanced Level Chemistry). The Choir School has come to prominence in Wales as the leading school in national league tables of success at A-level and GCSE, and it is the top performing Catholic school in England and Wales. David has also written a number of large scale compositions for chorus and full symphony orchestra, commissioned by the Welsh Arts Council, the BBC, the Elgar Festival. He was a first recipient of the Archbishop of Wales Award for Church Music, chaired by Dr. George Guest (St John’s College, Cambridge).