Belfast abolishes music director and paid choir

Belfast abolishes music director and paid choir

News

norman lebrecht

July 28, 2022

From Belfast Cathedral:

It is with considerable regret that, owing to the difficult financial circumstances in which Belfast Cathedral continues to find itself, the Dean and Board will now commence a restructuring of the Music Department at Belfast Cathedral.

This will include a move away from a paid, professional adult choir to a voluntary adult choir. In addition, the full-time role of Director of Music will be made redundant and will be replaced by a part-time Cathedral Choir Director. These changes will come into effect from 01 September, 2022.

The Dean and Board of Belfast Cathedral wish to record their sincere gratitude and thanks to Matthew Owens, who has been Director of Music at Belfast Cathedral since September 2019.

Comments

  • LP says:

    This is horrendous. My god. I hope there’s sufficient backlash.

    • J Barcelo says:

      Send a significant financial donation and get a lot of others to do it, too. That’s what’s needed. Churches need money to operate just like any other non-profit organization.

    • Maria says:

      Backlash with tons of money needed. You can’t live or sing on fresh air and prayers. This is a financial problem, not artistic, and fewer people going to church as well.

  • CA says:

    This is so sad. I used to live in Belfast and attended evensong here. It’s really sad to see this happen.

  • UK Music Administrator says:

    It would appear that this is not so much a “restructuring” as the almost complete demolition of the existing musical establishment at Belfast Cathedral, lowering its music to the level of a parish church. Under the highly experienced Matthew Owens things had really been looking up, not just for music at the cathedral, but for choral singing more widely across Northern Ireland. As you’d expect, there is plenty of commentary on social media by those who are directly and indirectly affected by these radical changes. It certainly seems a great shame for high-level music-making in Northern Ireland.

  • Jen23 says:

    This is sad news indeed. The musical life of the cathedral has been transformed by the tireless work of Matthew Owens. Fantastic children’s choir, brilliantly received CD recordings, superb broadcasts and concerts. A real loss for Belfast.

    • Maria says:

      No one doubts that, but they need thousands of pounds of money just to pay the adults and the organist.

      • SVM says:

        Did the management even attempt to initiate a fundraising campaign *before* taking the drastic decision to de-professionalise the choir? Did they try to find grassroots support and/or a few wealthy donors?

  • DH says:

    An outrage!
    This has history. St Anne’s cathedral cast out Philip Stopford in 2010 when the post of Director of Music was last abolished. Five of the cathedral’s board members resigned writing that it was ‘destructive of the Cathedral’s excellent choral music’. The treatment of Mr Stopford during his time there was also an issue, see https://bbc.in/3zEBHzR.
    Now we have another ‘restructuring’ to abolish the post of Director of Music again. This will get rid of another exceptionally talented music team led by Matthew Owens. I doubt that the choir got paid much – two services on a Sunday usually.
    A few years ago three friends and I visited Belfast. We visited St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Donegall Street and found it warm, peaceful and welcoming. Then we popped along to St Anne’s for Evensong. When we entered we were told bluntly that it was closed. Back outside we looked through the window to see the choir process in to a completely empty church.
    Meanwhile in a recent Facebook post: ‘Please be advised that at the up and coming concert in Belfast Cathedral which highlights the music of Meat Loaf, THAT A STRICT NO ALCOHOL Policy will apply. Checks will be carried out on arrival …’.
    God help us.

    • Armchair Bard says:

      Meat Loaf is playing Belfast Cathedral??? Anyone like to join me in a flash mob for an interval Alcohol Concert (please bring a bottle) AT WHICH A STRICT NO MEAT LOAF policy will apply? Checks will be carried out on arrival by renowned vegetarian sniffer-dog team Blondi & Co.™

    • Maria says:

      Ed Jones, now in Wakefield, went to Bradford Cathedral hardly lasting five minutes as assisant in Belfast – a few months.

  • Craig Campbell says:

    ‘Tis a pity.

  • Sarah Hearn-vonFoerster says:

    Sad and disastrous decision, as I, personally, know full well! The beautiful, quality music was the identity of the church. You would think that parishioners and community alike would fight to retain such a blessing.

  • D S says:

    The old “we don’t have enough money so let’s have worse music and see if that brings in more people and money”.

    • Maria says:

      Poor attendance anyhow. Belfast Christians are Catholic and Presbyterian, with a minority Anglican community.

  • Robert B says:

    Sheffield, Llandaff, Toronto, Belfast. The existentially threatening devaluation of professional church music needs to be acknowledged by the bishops, and deliberately remedied. Their silence speaks volumes about the state of church music, and no flimsy tokenistic medal to a retired baton-waver is going to address the severe spiritual rot that has been growing for decades when it comes to the so-called ‘beauty of holiness’. I think it was Kingsley Amis who said, ‘Yes it may be quicker, but then cutting your arm off will reduce your weight faster and more irreversibly than any exercise.’ Show some creativity you mighty prelates and bishoprics.

  • TLIH says:

    Surely there are other ways for the cathedral to get funds? Perhaps sell the deanery – which, as I believe, is a £1+ million house in the prestigious Malone road area of Belfast. Maybe a modest flat in the city centre would be more appropriate during these difficult financial circumstances. Then they could keep this world-class choir and its congregation.

  • Una says:

    And don’t forget, Belfast is not the Church of England and the established church, so gets funded very differently. Great shame the whole thing has happened but no surprise. A very hard call for the dean and chapter to make. I write as a former professional singer and a practising Christian, but there has to be a demand for this music, and not as a museum piece, and then a willingless for people to pay for it. It’s unsustainable otherwise. Westminater Cathedral, Catholic and thousands not 50 who go each Sunday, some years ago instigated a second collection and means of raising money for music, and long, long time ago before any pandemic – and in London with the benefit of tourists that Belfast – and indeed Bradford, Blackburn and Leeds – simply do not get.

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