Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 19 August 2006
New Organ Scholar for Christ Church
The cathedrals and larger parish churches play a vital role in providing musical education within the Church of Ireland. This is most obviously so in the field of choral singing but also in the area of organ tuition.
Fraser Wilson, from the University of Sheffield, has been appointed as Organ Scholar in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. He succeeds David Baskeyfield, who has gone to America to continue his music studies, and will take up his post in September.
Mr Wilson, who was born in 1984, attended Norwich School and, in his six years there he accumulated wide experience of performing, conducting, singing and arranging, and while in the sixth form served as Chapel Organist. He spent a year as Assistant Organist of All Saints' Church, St Andrews, and was also Assistant to the Music Department of St Leonard?s School there. He arrived in Sheffield in 2003 and was awarded a Choral Scholarship at St John's Church, Ranmoor. He spent a period of time singing with Sheffield Cathedral Choir and is a regular guest singer with various choirs including the Cathedral Singers of Christ Church Oxford, which was one of the visiting choirs in Christ Church, Dublin, this summer.
He has recently appeared as the counter-tenor soloist in Bach's St John Passion with the Sterndale Singers and as The Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas with Hallam Choral Society, and has also performed Poulenc's Organ Concerto. He is also active as a composer, regularly receiving commissions. He holds the Sir Thomas Beecham Scholarship from the University of Sheffield and is heavily involved in the University's musical life; amongst other things he was for two years Chair of the University Singers' Society. He has combined his work at St John's and as Director of the University's two chamber choirs with freelance singing, organ-playing and conducting, both in Sheffield and at home in East Anglia. Aside from music, his interests include cooking, fine wines and football, being a supporter of Norwich City.
Tomorrow (Sunday) in Dublin the services in Christ Church Cathedral will be sung by the Choir of St Peter?s, Nottingham, while in St Patrick?s Cathedral the visiting choir will be the Deeside Choristers.
From Monday until Friday the Cambridge choir, Appassionare will be in residence in St Patrick?s Cathedral. This is a new choir of ex-Cambridge choristers which was founded by Samuel Hayes, Assistant Organist at the University Church, Cambridge, and Director of the Choir of Queen?s College. Appassionare is paying a return visit to St Patrick?s having enjoyed a successful week-long residency in 2004.
On Monday and Tuesday Christ Church Cathedral will be closed to visitors due to some filming of ?The Tudors?, a dramatic series for television about the reign and marriages of Henry VIII. Written by award wining screenwriter, Michael Hirst, the series, which has been in production in Ardmore studios since May, will star Jonathan Rhys Meyers as a young Henry VIII, Sam Neill as Cardinal Wolsley, Jeremy Northam as Sir Thomas More, and Barry McGovern as Bishop Bonnivet.
In Cashel Cathedral on Tuesday evening at 8.30 there will be a concert in aid of the Cathedral Roof Restoration Fund and the Chernobyl Children?s Fund. The concert will be given by the internationally renowned pop flautist. Bettine Clemen.
On Friday, at lunchtime, the Assistant Organist of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Tristan Russcher, will give a recital in the National Concert Hall. He will give another lunchtime recital on Wednesday 13 September in St Mary?s Pro-Cathedral.