English cathedral’s new director of music
NewsSt Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds has chosen Claudia Grinnell as its next director of music, starting in September.
She is presently sub-organist at Winchester Cathedral, where she has been on the music staff since 2017.
Claudia succeeds Timothy Parsons, who has been appointed Director of Music at Wells Cathedral from this summer.
Fred Oxley will be turning in his grave.
There are far too many female organists trying to run Cathedral music.
It’s almost getting like TV newsreaders – again predominantly female.
(Harrison ‘Fred’ Oxley was a previous distinguished Organist at Bury in case you were wondering, and anti females either at the organ or in the choir stalls)
Was the applicant shortlist so depressing Bury have been forced to appoint a woman to the job?
Having women sounds like a smart idea. It’ll be a welcome change not to have another predatory male pedo-pervert in the role.
I’ve known the last three directors of music at St Edmundsbury and none, to my knowledge, were (as you put it) ‘predatory male pedo-perverts’ so on what do you base your rather moronic observation?
I thought you needed 10 fingers and a pair of feet to play the organ.I wasn’t aware you needed male genitalia, too!
Sadly it still helps and an Oxbridge degree – no other degree seems to count!
Aside from the blatant sexism in this post, since when was Oxley anti-female?? He was literally a pioneer of gender equality in cathedral choirs and was strongly criticised by other organists at the time for admitting girl choristers. From Wikipedia, citing his Times Obituary:
“Oxley controversially decided to introduce girls into the then all-male cathedral choir in the early 1970s. The mixed choir stopped some time after a new Provost of the cathedral took office in 1981 and began to phase out the girls. Oxley resigned in 1984 on a point of principle. He said that he had never been forgiven by some other cathedral organists for his actions in admitting girls but he could not see a reason to “bar half of humanity from the benefits and opportunities of cathedral choir membership.””
Many congratulations to Claudia, a very well-deserved appointment. Fred Oxley would be proud.
And why should a woman be any less able to run a Cathedral choir than a man? It’s purely a matter of musicianship and people skills – both dealing with the choir members (adult and children) and the often complex politics of the Cathedral and in those matters gender is irrelevant. There is if course room for debate when it comes to the composition of the choir itself, whether to include girls or even adult women, but that is an entirely different question.
According to Wikipedia Harrison Oxley ‘was the first English cathedral organist to supplement the boys’ voices in the cathedral choir with those of girls; he began to use girls’ voices as early as the 1960s as a separate choir and to support the boys’ voices for large events. The cathedral choir then became a permanent mixed treble line from the early 1970s until 1984′.
Yes, he was the first one to introduce girls into these cathedrals, and got into a lot of trouble – along with Malcolm Archer.
Supplement to my previous post:
Also from Wikipedia:
Oxley controversially decided to introduce girls into the then all-male cathedral choir in the early 1970s. The mixed choir stopped some time after a new Provost of the cathedral took office in 1981 and began to phase out the girls. Oxley resigned in 1984 on a point of principle. He said that he had never been forgiven by some other cathedral organists for his actions in admitting girls but he could not see a reason to “bar half of humanity from the benefits and opportunities of cathedral choir membership.”.[1] The cathedral choir has only very recently re-admitted girls on an equal footing (2021).
This is a wonderful appointment, all the better for being made swiftly (the auditions were only a week ago) from what was apparently a strong shortlist. The choristers, recruited from a variety of local schools, really liked Claudia, and so clearly did the Dean and Chapter, who also took advice from a well-qualified external adviser. Everyone who knows Claudia’s work at Winchester (and before that at Salisbury and Cambridge) reports that she is ideally qualified to carry on the fine job that Tim Parsons and his equally excellent assistant Richard Cook are doing with the five choirs at the cathedral.
Re the comments about Harrison Oxley, it’s surely quite the opposite. He was a pioneer in introducing girls to cathedral choirs, saying: ‘I do not see why we should bar half of humanity from the benefits and opportunities of cathedral choir membership.’
well, they would like a smiley school Ma’m teacher mumsy person wouldn’t they?
and who was the ‘external’ advisor one wonders? another mumsy figure maybe, but certainly someone cos the Dean & Chapter seem incapable (or scared) to make a decision themselves.
Why should it matter, the proof of the pudding is, will she have the personality to recruit choristers in this secular day and age where football is the new religion (and rightly so when you look at what dismal offerings the church have to offer musically and liturgically these days)
Good luck to Ms Claudia – she’s certainly going to need it at Bury St Edmunds getting some quality singing out of that lot of rag tag & bobtails!
The St Edmundsbury choir goes from strength to strength and – knowing them well – I am sure the Dean and Chapter are perfectly capable of making this decision. When were you last at a service there?
Moreover, and in keeping with that development, Oxley also appointed one of the first female cathedral assistant organists, Mary Slatter FRCO, at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in 1971.
You are wrong about Harrison Oxley. He was a great champion of females in the choir stalls. He created the first mixed cathedral choir in the country.
Any man who is relying on his “male organ” to carry out his duties as a cathedral organist has seriously misunderstood the role. Anything else a man can bring to the role can also be provided by a woman.
Hm, is that like females like Jacqueline Du Pre ‘trying to be ‘cellists’, or Gillian Weir and Marie-Claire Alain ‘trying to be organists’. I know there is a lot of box ticking for top jobs going on at the moment, but there really are a lot of rather good female musicians around. Perhaps they might be allowed to prove themselves in the chummy world of cathedral music.
Some of the finest organists are/were women, eg Gillian Weir, Jennifer Bate, Isabel Demers etc etc. Historically women have been denied access to cathedral posts, which is a shame, so it’s good to see women in such positions. How being a woman prevents you from running a cathedral music department is beyond me. Perhaps ‘former organist’ can explain?
I knew Fred (Harrison) Oxley very well as his soprano soloist but also as a fine organ teacher at the Colchester Institute when I was there for five years, and he was certainly not anti-girls – either as singers or organists!!!
She just happened to be the best for the job out of a strong shortlist. She’s a woman? Well – fancy that.
A breath of fresh air! Really wish her well.
Excellent choice. Claudia is a superb organist and choir trainer.
Says who?
Her work at Winchester was considered by many as mixed and
they are probably pleased to see her move on
As a lay clerk and chorister parent at Winchester, this doesn’t represent my view nor, I believe, that of any of my colleagues. Claudia is valued at Winchester for her musicianship and professionalism. Bury’s gain is very much our loss.
Jolly nice to have someone other than the usual bespectacled pale male.
You clearly don’t understand the demands and expectations of the job. It ain’t for the weaker sex
and not all organists wear specs, although those who do is as a result of intense organ practice with the music being far away on the music desk
I’ve lived quite a long life without ever using the term ‘weaker sex’. However, I think most organist posts may be currently held by the weaker sex. As for specs, I do indeed remember being warned as a teenage boy that too much organ practice might not be good for your eyesight.
IMH, and respectful opinion, former organist is peddling ill-informed, patronising, misogynistic man-shit.
Ignore the fake pseudo sexist posts. This is probably shills for Anna Lapwood trying to drum up evidence that her woke, Gillian Weir and Jane Parker-Smith ignoring “play like a girl” campaign is after all desperately needed. Maybe she can get another prize for doing next to nothing while real organists like Claudia Grinnell do the heavy lifting for little acclaim. Clown world.
Great that you turned up to give us a genuine sexist post. Well done.
Wait, you mean there’s another female organist besides the all-powerful master of all organ history, the most acclaimed and ONLY preeminent figure of all English music and musicians for all time, ANNA LAPWOOD? Surely this can’t be. Surely Bury St Edmunds would rather have a stunning and brave music program based on a few Florence Price “pieces” and others seventh rate women composers, social media posts every 12 seconds and lots and lots of fake smiling? Surely? There must be some mistake!
Dame Anna Lapdog, Laptop is to blame for all this hype about female organists being superior to the male species.
If her self promoting spin about how wonderful she was and her organ playing better to any male, cathedrals wouldn’t be box ticking and preferring females leading their music and playing their organs instead of the traditional male.
It speaks volumes as to the parlous state of Cathedral music when it’s the done thing to appoint a female rather than a male to a post these days. and heaven forbid anyone who says otherwise.
Look at the Royal College of Organist passes these days for their once coveted diplomas.
Hardly any women pass these exams for which will always be a male domain simply because male organists are musically more proficient and musical than school marm ones
Unbelievable! Are we in a time-warp, 2024 suddenly becoming 1884?
So organists come in two sexes: “traditional male” and “school marm.” Do I have it right?
With this level of thinking, you’re probably not passing too many exams yourself, buddy.
I guess we can look forward to curtains across the stained glass windows to keep out those awful drafts and scatter cushions everywhere. One thing is for sure, girls’ voices do not have the same impact in our cathedral choirs that boys have shown for centuries. It’s like replacing trumpets with flutes. Also, having female voices leading the Responses is a huge musical mistake, as no ensemble tunes from the top down. At least such luminaries Dame Gillian Weir and Jennifer Bate never interfered with the choral world. Most female conductors I’ve seen are far too ‘flouncy’ and do not posess the same gravitas in the role that their male counterparts do. Political wokeness is not welcome.
This comment is just really sad. I’m sorry that you seem to view half the human race as inconsequential.
PS Simply having women in jobs is not “woke.”
This is beyond rubbish.
Just take a trip to York Minster where you will hear boys and girls absolutely of equal measure. In fact the vocal training is such that the boys and girls lines sound pretty much the same – it’s all down to training really. They are VERY strong.
Females leading the responses – I have heard enough flat and woeful men intoning the responses that I am happy that someone just sing the damn things in tune, no matter their gender… and if your choir can only sing in tune from the bottom up then I think that speaks more of a problem with your choir… we all have ears. Think of all the renaisssance polyphony that begins with sopranos and altos before the men come in later. Is that all simply impossible to tune because there are no basses singing? Of course not, your suggestion is preposterous and not based in any reality.
“Gravitas.” Ah, that word…. I’m never quite sure what it means. I’m pretty sure that it usually translates as “being a male.”
There are plenty of excellent women organists and excellent women choir directors (and guess what, lots of bad ones too; you might be even more shocked to learn there are loads of bad MALE organists and choral directors as well, difficult as it may be to fathom….)
Honestly these organist posts bring out some of the worst, a whole bunch of people who just need to grow up…
Two points…
Before making such rude comments about Girls Choirs, please listen to the Winchester Cathedral Girls, who are superb. Listen to the 25th Anniversary service last Sunday afternoon on the livestream Cathedral Channel
Secondly, having sung under Claudia’s direction at Winchester Cathedral in one of the Voluntary Choirs, I can confirm what a wonderful experience it was and how much everyone learned and improved. We loved her calmness, clarity and encouragement.