Montserrat Boys Choir, L’Escolania, is one of the oldest boys’ choirs in Europe. For more than 700 years, the voices of its choirboys have filled Montserrat with sacred music and Renaissance polyphony. Today, more than fifty boys continue this extraordinary tradition, singing every day inside the spectacular Basilica of Montserrat.
It lasts just fifteen minutes, but that is more than enough to turn a visit to the monastery into a truly special experience. That is why thousands of visitors plan their day in Montserrat around 1:00 p.m., when the Escolania sings the Salve and the Virolai.
Two things have recently changed, and most of the English-language websites haven’t been updated yet. You now need to reserve a spot in advance, and the choir is away for much longer each year than people expect—usually in August. This guide provides the regular schedule based on the abbey’s own calendar, the dates when they don’t sing, and how to plan your trip to ensure you can enjoy the Montserrat Boys Choir.
The choir sings Monday through Friday at 1:00 p.m. and on Sundays and religious holidays at 12:00 noon, in addition to offering a more subdued performance Monday through Thursday during Vespers, which begin at 6:45 p.m. They never sing on Saturdays and are absent for most of July, August and at the end of June. The performance lasts about fifteen minutes, and reservations are now required. Arrive at least fifteen minutes early, and please be respectful of the rules inside the basilica.
Montserrat Boys Choir schedule
The choir sings as part of the monastery’s daily prayer, so the timetable follows the liturgy rather than a concert season. These are the official times published by the Abbey of Montserrat. The basilica itself is open every day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
| Day | Time | What you hear | Crowds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday to FridayMain performance | 1:00 p.m. | Salve Montserratina and the Virolai (reservation required) | Busiest moment of the day |
| Monday to ThursdayInsider pick | 6:45 p.m. | Vespers, with the Salve Montserratina and a polyphonic motet sung towards the end — in practice around 7:10 p.m. | Very quiet |
| SaturdayNo choir | — | The choir does not sing, all year round | — |
| Sunday & holidaysSeparate booking | 11:00 a.m. | Conventual Mass, sung by the choir (reservation required) | Busy |
| Sunday & holidaysMain performance | 12:00 noon | Salve Montserratina and the Virolai | Very busy |
| Sunday & holidays | 6:45 p.m. | Vespers, with the Salve Montserratina and a polyphonic motet sung towards the end — in practice around 7:10 p.m. | Quiet |
When the Montserrat choir does not sing
This is where some trips go wrong, which is why this guide is here to help. La Escolania is both a boarding school and a choir: it follows the school calendar and goes on international tours. There are three things that will cause you to miss the performance if you don’t check them first.
- Never on Saturdays. The choir never sings on Saturdays at any time of the year. No exceptions. If Saturday is the only day you can come, plan your visit around the basilica, the Black Madonna, and the mountain.
- The summer break. It covers most of the school vacation and coincides entirely with the peak tourist season. In 2026, the choir was away for the entire months of July and August until the 26th, returning on Thursday, August 27. Late June is also often affected.
- Tours and concerts. The abbey’s own schedule includes a note that the choir may occasionally be away from Montserrat.
The choir publishes its own monthly calendar, which lists tour dates and last-minute cancellations.
Check the official Escolania calendar for your date →Tickets and Tours for the Montserrat Boys Choir: What You Need to Know to Book
The abbey offers the 1:00 p.m. performance, “Salve i Virolai,” Monday through Friday, as a bookable time slot, and the Sunday conventual Mass at 11:00 a.m., which also requires a separate reservation. Remember that it’s no longer enough to just show up at the door and take a seat.
The choir performance alone costs €12 if booked online, and €14 at the ticket office inside the monastery.
- Just the choir and nothing else. Book only that time slot through the monastery’s reservation system. €12 online. This is the right option if you’re coming just to hear the choir and already have your transportation arranged.
- The choir plus everything else. Why is a combo ticket better? A combo ticket includes the same performance along with the museum, the audiovisual space, admission to the basilica, the open-air museum, and priority access to the Black Madonna. If you were going to see any of those attractions anyway — and almost everyone does — you pay just a few euros more than the €12 and get everything in a single reservation, plus you avoid the long lines during peak season.
- The choir as part of a guided tour. Most morning tours departing from Barcelona include the performance and structure the itinerary around it. It is by far the least stressful option, because the organizers take care of any scheduling issues.
Compare Montserrat Tickets That Include the Escolania
Three passes cover the choir performance. Two of them are entry-only, for visitors who are arranging their own way up the mountain. The third includes transport from Barcelona.
Monastery Entry + Escolania → 🛒
No transport included · The choir is on the booking page from the start — no date-hunting
Montserrat Experience + Escolania → 🛒
No transport included · Same price, four more things inside — pick a date first, then choose the choir option
Tot Montserrat Card → 🛒
Transport from Barcelona included · Metro, train and rack railway or cable car — the choir is an option you add after picking your date
A dashed outline means you have to select it. On both Tiqets passes the Escolania is not shown until you choose a date. If you pick a day and the choir option never appears, that is the booking system telling you the choir is not singing — a Saturday, a holiday period, or a tour. Try a weekday and it will show up. The GetYourGuide ticket puts the choir on the page from the start, which is why it is the simplest of the three to book.
If you would rather not think about train times, ticket queues or whether the choir is singing that day, this is the option. One booking from Barcelona, a guide, and an itinerary already built around the 1:00 p.m. performance.
The Guided Tour That Includes the Escolania
The most popular tour of Montserrat from Barcelona offers an option that includes admission to the Escolania, but you must choose the appropriate option.
Mid-Morning Tour with Choir Access → 🛒
Round-trip transport from Barcelona included · 4.6 ★ from 8,638 reviews · Departs 10:15 a.m. · Free cancellation
Watch the price and the variant. The tour page advertises “from €50”, but that is the standard version without the choir. Select your date and then choose “Montserrat Mid-Morning Tour with Choir Access” — €66, seven hours, departing at 10:15 a.m. If that variant does not appear for your date, the choir is not singing that day.
What the Montserrat Boys Choir actually sings
The midday performance is brief—about fifteen minutes—and always consists of the same two pieces. First, the “Salve Montserratina” is performed. Next comes the “Virolai,” the anthem of Montserrat: lyrics by the Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer and music by Josep Rodoreda, composed in 1880. It begins with “Rosa d’abril, morena de la serra”—April rose, dark-haired girl of the mountain. For many Catalans, it feels more like a national anthem than a religious hymn, and you’ll see people in the audience singing along quietly.
The evening performance is the more musically interesting of the two: once again, the Salve, followed by a polyphonic motet that varies throughout the liturgical year. The choir’s repertoire extends far beyond the two pieces that most visitors hear, as its discography is extensive, varied, and of high quality.
How do boys join the Montserrat Boys Choir?
A question visitors ask once they have heard them. Boys join in the fourth or fifth year of primary school, when places are available — not after finishing primary education, as some guides claim. That puts them at nine or ten years old when they arrive.
The monastery weighs three things, and only the first is musical:
- Voice and musical language. Both the natural instrument and the child’s grounding in music theory.
- Academic performance. The Escolania is a full school, and the boys follow the ordinary curriculum alongside their daily musical training.
- Adaptability and social skills. These children board at the monastery during term time, so how a boy adjusts to that life counts alongside how he sings.
And there is life after the voice breaks. In the 2023–24 academic year the Escolania created the Schola Cantorum, a mixed choir of young men and women aged eighteen to twenty-four, which sings the liturgy in the basilica one weekend a month.
How early should you arrive?
Fifteen minutes early is the official minimum. In practice, on a summer weekday, arriving fifteen minutes early will only get you a standing spot in the back, behind several hundred people. Arriving thirty to forty minutes early will allow you to get a seat with a good view of the Montserrat Boys Choir.
If we count backward from 1:00 p.m., that means you should be at the basilica around 12:30 p.m. From Barcelona, the trip takes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes door-to-door, so leaving mid-morning is what allows you to enjoy the performance comfortably, rather than having to rush. Our guide on how to get to Montserrat from Barcelona details all the routes with actual travel times.
One thing that often catches people off guard: the line for the Montserrat rack railway or the cable car can be a bit of a bottleneck in the morning during peak season. Be sure to allow extra time for the lines, not just for the travel time itself.
Where to stand in the basilica
The Montserrat Boys Choir sings from the high altar. Everyone wants the best spot, so let’s be respectful. If you also want to see La Moreneta up close, do so before the performance. The line to enter the chapel closes and reopens after the performance, and there’s a big rush right after. To learn more, check out our guide to the Basilica of Montserrat.
Who are L’Escolania de Montserrat?
More than fifty children, aged nine to fourteen, most of them from Catalonia, who live at the monastery during the school year. The first written mention of a choral school in Montserrat dates back to 1307, making L’Escolania one of the oldest choirs in Europe that continues to sing at the very place where it was founded—and has done so more or less continuously for seven centuries.
The school’s importance grew considerably in the 17th and 18th centuries, when Montserrat became a major center for sacred composition. Today, the children follow a comprehensive academic curriculum alongside daily musical training, and the choir goes on international tours.
The day the choir sang for the Pope
On June 10, 2026, Pope Leo XIV visited Montserrat—the second papal pilgrimage to the monastery in its entire history and the event that brought the abbey’s millennium celebrations to a close. Some 8,000 people packed the basilica and the central square.
The Escolania sang alongside the Capella de Música: a Salve Regina for eight voices with echoes by Joan Cererols, the Montserrat monk and composer who died in 1680, and then the Virolai as the Pope Leo XIV venerated the image of the Black Madonna. He prayed the rosary in the basilica, spoke from the balcony, and entrusted his pontificate to La Moreneta — “she has always accompanied me”, he said.
Is the Montserrat Boys Choir worth it?
For most visitors, yes—and honest warnings are just as important as the recommendation itself. The performance is short, and the 1:00 p.m. session is usually packed. I recommend arriving early. Seeing the Montserrat Boys Choir perform live, combined with the acoustics inside the basilica and the silence before the first note, is a wonderful experience.
First-time visit, weekdays
The 1:00 p.m. performance. This is the one everyone refers to when they talk about hearing the choir. Arrive early.
If you prefer a quieter atmosphere
The afternoon performance, Monday through Thursday, during Vespers. There are far fewer people. The atmosphere is calm.
If you’re visiting on a Sunday
At noon for the “Salve” and the “Virolai,” or the conventual Mass at 11:00 a.m. if you want the full liturgy. The Mass requires a prior reservation.
Can you buy recordings of the choir?
Yes, and it is the one souvenir at Montserrat genuinely worth carrying home. The Escolania has an extensive discography, and the monastery shops on the esplanade stock a good selection — Gregorian chant, the Cererols repertoire, Renaissance polyphony and contemporary Catalan composers.
FAQ — Montserrat Boys Choir
What time does the Montserrat Boys Choir sing?
The Escolania sings Monday to Friday at 1:00 p.m. and, on Sundays and religious holidays, at 12:00 noon. There is a second, much quieter performance Monday to Thursday during vespers, which begin at 6:45 p.m. The choir does not sing on Saturdays.
Does the Montserrat choir sing on Saturdays?
No. The Escolania does not sing on Saturdays at any point in the year, without exception. If Saturday is your only possible day, plan your visit around the basilica, the Black Madonna and the mountain walks instead.
Do you need tickets to hear the Montserrat Boys Choir?
Yes. The abbey requires a prior reservation for the “Salve i Virolai” performance at 1:00 p.m., and a separate reservation for the Sunday conventual Mass at 11:00 a.m. Tickets for the choir performance alone cost €12 online or €14 at the box office, and combo tickets include additional options such as the museum, the audiovisual space, and the Black Madonna for just a few euros more. Seats sell out during peak season. The basilica is open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Does the Montserrat choir sing in August?
Only at the end of the month. The Escolania takes a summer break for most of the school vacation. Always check the calendar at escolania.cat for the specific date.
How long does the Montserrat choir performance last?
About fifteen minutes. The midday performance consists of the “Salve Montserratina,” followed by the “Virolai,” the anthem of Montserrat. Since the “Virolai” is a religious prayer rather than a concert piece, the audience does not applaud at the end.
Is the Montserrat Boys Choir worth it?
Yes. It is one of the oldest choirs in Europe and performs in the very building for which it was founded.
How early should you arrive to hear the Escolania?
Fifteen minutes is the official minimum, but that usually means standing in the back. Arriving 30 minutes early allows you to get a better seat.
How old is the Montserrat Boys Choir?
The first written mention of a choral school in Montserrat dates back to 1307, making L’Escolania one of the oldest choirs in Europe that continues to sing at the very place where it was founded.
Continue exploring Montserrat
If this guide helped you plan your visit, then it has done its job.
Sergio López Prieto · Local Montserrat Expert
Some links may be affiliate links, at no extra cost to you.
