You think church music is tradition? Try the new gendering agenda

The Cathedral Music Trust has just provided details of this autumn’s groundbreaking academic conference. There is barely one practising church organist who has been invited to speak.

Here’s the outline:
Dear Colleague,

It gives me great pleasure to announce that public booking is now open for Cathedral Music Trust’s academic conference, and to provide you with some more information about the event.

Over the course of two days, we will hear from some twenty experts in the field of cathedral music, who will address topical themes and provide stimulating insight based on current research. I’m pleased to confirm that Dr Ralph Allwood from The Rodolfus Foundation, Benjamin Saunders from the National Schools Singing Programme, Sarah MacDonald from Selwyn College Cambridge and Ely Cathedral, Cathedral Music Trust Trustee Simon Toyne, and Dr Rebecca Berkley from the University of Reading will take part in our panel discussion on working with the current generation of choristers. Historian Nicholas Orme will highlight our themes within the context of England’s cathedrals, and John Rutter will give the after-dinner speech on Thursday evening.

The Revd Prof. June Boyce-Tillman will give a keynote address on Thursday afternoon, exploring notions of identity, meaning-making, ritual, the concert/liturgy division and inclusivity, and the potential role of grace in guiding these interactions. On Friday morning Dr Hanna Rijken will consider the inherent power of the cathedral music tradition in England, and what understanding the motivations and experiences of Dutch choirs might contribute to studies of cathedral music and religiosity more widely. She will be followed by The Revd Dr Jonathan Arnold who will explore how his research through the ‘Experience of Music’ project has shown that there are social, ethical, and spiritual benefits to music experience. He will discuss how such spiritual experience through music can point towards, and even reveal, a reality beyond our everyday human materiality.

I am particularly excited to share that fourteen of our brightest and most inspirational new generation researchers will also present their work, completed as part of their master’s or doctoral studies in the field of cathedral music. Ten academics will give their papers, and another four will take part in a poster session where you will have the opportunity to discuss their findings with them. It is a huge privilege to bring together these researchers from around the world to present their work to you, and I am pleased to be able to provide their titles, with links to their abstracts, below:

Katie Ambrose | Choral music-making in gendered settings: a technologically mediated approach

The Revd Canon Nicholas James Watson Brown | Historical and institutional influences on the theological understanding of cathedral singers

Isobel Chesman | The Vocal Health Status of Lay Clerks in English Anglican Cathedral Choirs

Revd Kathryn Evans | The spiritual potential of liturgical singing in the Anglican Cathedral Tradition: a theological foundation for facing challenges

Pete Gunstone | Diverse People Inhabiting Praise Together

Prof. Simone Krüger Bridge | Harmony in Diversity: Unveiling the Inherent Societal Contributions of Liverpool Cathedral’s Egalitarian Music Outreach Programme in the Liverpool City Region

Benjamin Liberatore | ‘They make me feel like I’m dirtying the tradition’: Child choristers’ perspectives on belonging, difference, and ‘identity’ in English cathedral music

Imogen Morgan | I Heard a Voice from Heaven: the impact of religious melodic themes in instrumental music on the visual mental imagery experienced by a listener

Rebekah Okpoti | Anne Lister, the Pipe organ and The Girly Organist: curating the sound world of an icon to address bigotry

Elizabeth Preece | Cultural Capital and the Choir: Understanding Social Class Reproduction within Choir Schools

Meg Rees | A Detailed Exploration of Choral Evensong and its Significance in 2024

Lily Robson | The English Cathedral Music Canon: Appraising the musicological presentation of Twentieth and Twenty-First-Century Cathedral Music

Denise Stobart | The Divine as an integral part of Religious Cognition experienced through Music during Worship in the Anglican Tradition

Bronwyn Thies-Thompson | Choral Evensong as Music Therapy: Examining the Mental Health Benefits of Religious Musicking for Choristers

Attendees will enjoy a fully-catered experience, including a drinks reception, three-course conference dinner with wine, and delicious hot lunches served in Sarum College Refectory. No event of this nature would be replete without Choral Evensong itself, which will be sung by Salisbury Cathedral Choir on Thursday.

Full-price ticket: £185.