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List of Organists and assistant organists
editThe choral tradition at Chester is 900 years old, dating from the foundation of the Bendedictine monastery. In 1741 Handel heard the first recital of his Messiah at Chester.[1] Today, there are usually ten choral services at the cathedral each week. Chester has a cathedral choir of male lay clerks, boy trebles and since 1997 the cathedral has recruited a choir of girl choristers, who sing on alternate Sundays to the boys and the same number of weekday services. There is no choir school at Chester, so the choristers come from local schools. On occasions the boy and girl choristers sing together. There is also a nave choir which sings Evening Prayer on Sundays, and sometimes joins with the cathedral choir on special occasions.[2][3] The nave choir was formed in the middle of the 19th century, and was England’s first voluntary cathedral choir.[4] The director of music is Philip Rushforth and the assistant organist is Ian Roberts.[5] There are lunchtime organ recitals weekly on Thursday.[6] The monthly program of music is available on the cathedral's website.[7]
List of organists
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Assistant organists
edit- Herbert Stephen Irons 1873 - 1876[9]
- John Gumi ???? - 1890
- John Thomas Hughes 1909 - 1925 (then organist)
- Guillaume Ormond 1925 - 1926 (later organist of Truro Cathedral)[9]
- James Roland Middleton 1934 - 1944 (later organist of Chelmsford Cathedral)[9]
- George Guest 1944 - 1947
- Brian Runnett 1955 - 1960
- Peter Gilbert White 1960 - 1962
- John Belcher 1967 - 1971
- John Cooper Green 1971 - 1975
- John Keys 1975 - 1978
- Simon Russell 1978 - ????
- Lee Ward ???? - 1989
- Graham Eccles 1989 - 1998
- Philip Stopford 2000 - 2003 (now organist of St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast)
- Ian Roberts
See also the List of Organ Scholars at Chester Cathedral.
References
edit- ^ Bowerman 1996, p. 1
- ^ "Choir". Chester Cathedral. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Chester Cathedral Choir". Chester Cathedral Choir. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
- ^ "Nave Choir". Chester Cathedral Nave Choir. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Music Staff". Chester Cathedral. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
- ^ "Organ Recitals". Chester Cathedral. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
- ^ "Music Scheme". Chester Cathedral. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Cathedral Organists. John E West. 1899
- ^ a b c d e f g h i The Succession of Organists. Watkins Shaw. 1991