User:Arcrecmus/sandbox

The Archive of Recorded Church Music (ARCM) is acknowledged to be the definitive archive of recordings of choirs of gentlemen and boys singing in the English Cathedral tradition. The earliest recording in the collection dates from 1902 and the most recent dates to the present day. The Archive is listed on the websites of the National Archives and the British Library.

It was founded in 2003 as a personal initiative and is now housed at the Beauchamp Community at Newland, Worcestershire. Funding is entirely by private donations.

The collection, much of it donated for safe keeping by private individuals, includes original copies and transcriptions of over 10,000 audio recordings in virtually every format, as well as television broadcasts, newsreels, choir-related films and other audio-visual materials. There is also a library collection that includes photographs, magazines, books, newspaper cuttings, adverts, private papers and everything to do with the written word. Two particularly important strands of the archive are private recordings of now-defunct choirs and recordings of Choral Evensong (BBC), of which the Archive holds around 3,000 dating from 1947 to the present.

The ARCM has a dynamic website and is active on social media, with its own Twitter feed, a Facebook page and a much-visited YouTube channel featuring twice-weekly uploads. It also organises musical events at St Leonard's Church, the spiritual centre of the Beauchamp Community, at which visiting choirs and organists are invited to sing or play.

The Archive celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2018 with an extensive exhibition and talks given by influential figures from the world of church music, including author and archivist Tim Day, Roy Massey (organist) and Barry Rose.