My latest work is a new setting of the Passion according to St John, composed for liturgical use with plainsong inspired chants and choral responses for SATB. It will be performed for the first time on Good Friday at St Stephen’s Church, Canterbury, and available to purchase from my website after this.
It has been confirmed that the first performance of my setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis will be performed in Salisbury Cathedral at Evensong on Wednesday 5th April 2017. A fauxbourdon setting is one in which the choir sing plainsong verses, and some verses that are harmonised for full choir – in my setting the plainsong still runs through the tenor part, which proved a challenge when harmonising the long repeated reciting notes!
You can view a sample score and pre-order copies (in stock from May 2017) by clicking here.
With Lent, Holy Week and Easter not that far away (at least, not for those of us planning music!), visitors to my website might be interested in two short and simple pieces that are available freely here:
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If you are looking for something more substantial for a Lent or Passiontide service, then you may be interested in looking at Teach me, O Lord which places more demands on the singers and organist. It was first performed in Salisbury Cathedral in Passiontide 2011, on the day that The Right Reverend Nicholas Holtam was announced as the new Bishop of Salisbury, and sung in front of the entire Chapter and packed cathedral during Evensong. More information…
Recorded in Canterbury Cathedral on Thursday 29th March 2012, sung by the choir of St Stephen’s Church, Canterbury.
On 23 May, my latest composition was premièred by the choristers of Canterbury Cathedral at a special service of Baptism in the Cathedral Crypt. A video of the performance and a sample score is available to view by clicking here. Printed scores are available to purchase too.
Famous for its horse racing, on 14 February 2015, Chantilly will be the venue for a Choral Singing Day. I will be leading choristers from across northern France in a workshop of music from the English choral tradition, culminating in a service of Choral Evensong in St Peter’s Church.
More details, including the music being sung in the workshop will be posted in due course.
On Saturday 25th October 2014, I directed be directing a ‘Come and Sing’ rehearsal and performance of Fauré’s Requiem in St Mary’s Church, Banbury. The concert was a fundraising event for the Katherine House Hospice, where my mother was cared for in the weeks before she passed away – Fauré’s Requiem was one of her favourite pieces and one of the first larger choral works that she introduced me to.
The first half of the concert will included an organ recital on St Mary’s unique Hill, Norman and Beard organ.
I am pleased to be able to report that the day raised £1,800 for the hospice, and it is hoped that we may be able to do another follow-up event next year – watch this space for details!
Below are some photographs from the rehearsal during the afternoon, taken by Sophie Tate, who also sang the Soprano solo in the concert.
On Tuesday 31st December, my Christmas anthem ‘Lullay, mine liking’ is being performed for the first time in London, at Evensong in Westminster Abbey. This follows a performance in Canterbury at the Carol Service in St Stephen’s Church on Sunday 22nd December. Anyone is welcome to attend either event and it would be lovely to speak to you afterwards if you make yourself known to me.
On Thursday 12th December at 7.30pm, my setting of O Magnum Mysterium is being sung in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge as part of ‘Christmas at the Fitzwilliam with Granta Chorale’ in Gallery 3.
Tickets: £17.50 (£14.50 concessions and Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum), including interval glass of wine. Available from City Centre Box Office, Wheeler Street, Cambridge. Tel: 01223 357851
On Saturday 20th July I am accompanying a workshop and performance of Vivaldi’s Gloria at St Mary’s Church, Chartham, Kent. The day is being led by Emily Temmel, and features singers from St Mary’s Church Choir, local schools, and friends. Any money raised on the day is being split between St Mary’s Church and the Pilgrim’s Hospice. If anyone is interested in coming along to sing, please contact me directly, and I’ll give you further details.
On Saturday 20th April I’m presenting a short lecture at Canterbury Christ Church University entitled Music in a Liturgical Parish Church which will look at the role that music plays at St Stephen’s Church, Canterbury and how it becomes a way of reaching out to the local community. My lecture is part of a one day conference on church music called Sound Ministry. More details and links from my lecture are available by following this link.
Visitors to my website might be interested in two short and simple pieces that are available freely here:
Were you there?
Suitable for use during Passiontide (the period immediately before Easter, when Christians focus on the Crucifixion of Jesus), it is an arrangement of the American Spiritual melody for 2 voices, and adaptable for use by many different combinations to suit your singers. More information…
Easter Anthems
The Easter Anthems are traditionally sung at Mattins during Eastertide, but are equally suitable for being sung at any other service during that time. This is a setting to a single Anglican Chant with the text pointed accordingly. More information…
On Saturday 16th March, I am conducting a ‘Bring and Sing’ workshop and performance of John Stainer’s Passiontide Oratorio “The Crucifixion”.
It’s taking place in Holy Trinity Church, Broadstairs between 2 and 6pm and anyone is welcome, whether a member of an RSCM affiliated choir or not. For more details, click on the image to the left to see the full poster, and make contact with the Canterbury Area RSCM secretary, Tracey Laws, who will take you booking.
I look forward to seeing you there!
St Stephen’s Church Choir, Canterbury, under Stephen’s direction, have recorded a carol for broadcast on BBC South East Today. It will go out on Friday 21st December on BBC1 between 6.30 and 7.00pm in the South East region. For more information about St Stephen’s Choir, please visit their website.
The Choir will be singing for a number of Christmas services at St Stephen’s including the Carol Service of readings and music for Christmas at 6pm on Sunday 23rd December. On Christmas Eve they will be singing for Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury only days before he leaves the position. In 2013 St Stephen’s will be singing services in Winchester and Southwark Cathedrals and have been invited to sing at Westminster Abbey again at the end of the year.
On Thursday 25th October 2012, my composition Hail, gladdening light will be performed as the anthem at Evensong in Canterbury Cathedral, sung by the choir of St Stephen’s Church, Canterbury.
A recording of the performance will be available here shortly afterwards.
To purchase copies of Hail, gladdening light, please order online.
On Saturday 4th August, my latest composition Hail, gladdening light will be premièred in Portsmouth Cathedral during Choral Evensong. The service begins at 5pm and anyone is welcome to join the congregation. If you do come to hear my piece, please come and speak to me afterwards – I look forward to meeting some of you there!
A recording will be uploaded to this website over the summer, and scores will be available to purchase in the autumn – do keep an eye on this website for more information, or why not follow me on Twitter?
Last Saturday (12th May) I had the pleasure of directing the North-West Europe RSCM (Royal School of Church Music) Choir Festival. Held in Brussels, Belgium, participants travelled from far and wide, including Holland, Luxembourg, and Germany, as well as those from cities in Belgium and, of course, me from the UK!
The music was taken from the RSCM‘s recent publication The Word Revealed, focusing on last year’s 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, and included And the glory of the Lord from The Messiah, by Handel and an excellent new anthem commissioned for the book, Vox Christi by Philip Wilby.
The enthusiasm from all taking part was excellent, and the quality of the singing really quite superb for a choir that had come together for the first time that morning.
A couple of videos are available on Youtube, although they were recorded on my mobile phone, and the quality of audio is very poor, clipping most of the way through – however, it gives a sense of the occasion:
I had a thoroughly enjoyable time and would like to thank everyone who was involved.
If you are looking for someone to lead a choral workshop – particularly amateur singers in church choirs, then I would be very pleased to hear from you via the contact page.
There is now a video of Teach me, O Lord available here. It was recorded during Evensong in Canterbury Cathedral on Thursday 29th March when it was performed by the choir of St Stephen’s Church, Canterbury who are regularly asked to deputise for the Cathedral Choir.
UPDATE: You can see and hear the performance on their video stream here – helpfully it’s the first 2 minutes so easy to find!
On 2nd May, my anthem Spiritus Domine super me, which was written several years ago for the induction of the present Rector of St Stephen’s Church, Canterbury, will be sung at the Mass of Ordination for Bishop-elect George A. Sheltz in the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas, USA.
Over the coming weeks there are two performances of my anthem ‘Teach me, O Lord’.
The first is in Canterbury Cathedral on Thursday 29th March, sung by the Choir of St Stephen’s Church, Canterbury as the anthem during Choral Evensong. The service begins at 5.30pm and anyone wishing to attend is advised to be seating by 5.15. This is a service – part of the daily cycle of worship in the Cathedral – so there is no charge to attend.
The second performance is in a concert by the newly formed choir, Cantus Amoris, a newly formed choir of high quality singers based in the south of England. The concert is part of the Eastbourne Festival and tickets are available here in advance, or on the door if you want to risk it!
It would be lovely to meet anyone attending either of these performances.
St Stephen’s Church Choir will be performing an original composition by Stephen Barker when they sing in Salisbury Cathedral in April.
The anthem – Teach me, O Lord – sets selected verses from Psalm 119 as appointed for the Offertory on the Fifth Sunday of Lent interspersed with a refrain and concluding with a prayer from the Common Worship Psalter.
Music staff at Salisbury Cathedral saw a first draft of the composition last week and were pleased to approve it.
You can hear Teach me, O Lord during Choral Evensong on Tuesday 12th April in Salisbury Cathedral. It is hoped to make a recording available on this website shortly afterwards.
