Fifteen choristers from St Leonards-Mayfield School in East Sussex have given one the most important performances of their lives. The girls, who are all members of the school’s prestigious choir, Schola Cantorum, sang for the Pope in the Vatican and at three of the most prestigious churches in Rome. Evening Mass at the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva on Tuesday October 25 was followed by the papal audience the following morning, Mass at the Venerable English College in the afternoon and noonday Mass at St Peter’s Basilica next day. The choir was buoyed by a letter of support before the trip to Rome from Nigel Baker, the British Ambassador to the Holy See, who wrote: “I have no doubt that your trip to Rome will be a tremendous success.” The choir was conducted by the school’s director of music, Peter Collins.