PEOPLE
A Master of Music
predecessor both here and in Westminster, I was aware that Peterborough Cathedral has a very supportive attitude to music (strangely, perhaps, that is not universal!). I’ve been very encouraged by the enthusiasm of the Dean and Chapter to develop music to meet the needs of the 21st century and make Peterborough a centre of excellence for church music.”
Choir matters
The Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral talks to Sue Dobson about that royal wedding and making Peterborough a centre of excellence for church music. Photo: Matthew Roberts
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or someone hailed as a star among the firmament of British organists, with rave reviews for his recitals and recordings, Robert Quinney seems remarkably down to earth. Of his role as organist for the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in 2011 he says: “I’m very proud of being part of that and will remember it vividly, but really it was just an extension of what we do every day – providing excellent liturgical music.” An estimated two billion people worldwide watched the televised royal wedding, and while he’s not likely to reach similar audiences anytime soon, it’s excellence that’s at the forefront of Robert’s mind as Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral. He took over the post in April last year, after eight years as Sub-Organist at Westminster Abbey. No stranger to the east of England, he
Westminster Abbey has a specialist music school dedicated to the Abbey Choir. There, “music is wrapped around the choristers.” In Peterborough, pupils from The King’s School, together with adult male lay clerks, form the Cathedral Choir. “We have about 50 young choristers, roughly equal numbers of boys and girls aged between seven and 13, who during term time sing weekday Evensong and three services on Sundays. They don’t all sing together, there’s a choral rota with various different configurations of voices, but they do all join forces for special occasions like the Advent Procession.” With Christmas on the horizon, and a host of services and concerts on the Cathedral calendar, Robert says he’s particularly looking forward to conducting Handel’s ‘Messiah’ on 7th December. “It will be a wonderful event, bringing together the full forces of Peterborough Cathedral music, with the Choir, the Festival Chorus, the new Youth Choir of former choristers, four fantastic soloists and a period instrument orchestra, the kind that Handel himself would have known.” One of those soloists will be his wife, the soprano Cecilia Osmond. Much in demand as an oratorio soloist and recording artist, Cecilia frequently performs with such renowned vocal ensembles as The Sixteen, The Cardinall’s Musick and The Tallis Scholars. The couple have three children. “Beatrice, who is nine, joined the Cathedral Choir when I did and six year old Alexander will be auditioning this year. Eleanor, who is just one year old, is a little too young at present!”
Recording success read music at King’s College, Cambridge, where he was Organ Scholar from 1995 to 1998, and from 2009 spent five years as Director of Oundle for Organists. After university he headed to Westminster, first to the Abbey as Acting Sub-Organist, then in 2000 to Westminster Cathedral as Assistant Master of Music. He returned to Westminster Abbey four years later “for the number two job in the music department,” which included being principal organist and working closely with the Abbey Choir, performing with them on several international tours and on an acclaimed series of recordings. “I loved working at Westminster Abbey, exciting things were happening all the time, but to develop personally and in my career, the move here seemed a natural step,” he says. “Because I knew Andrew Reid, my
Named Royal College of Organists Performer of the Year in 2002, Robert has a busy freelance career as a soloist, ensemble player, composer and writer on music. Concerts and recitals have taken him around Britain and across Europe, to the USA, Canada, Australia and Russia, and his numerous CD recordings have all been widely praised. November saw him giving the opening recital at Llandaff Cathedral, “on the largest new, entirely British, cathedral organ since Coventry” and an Organ Extravaganza on home ground to publicize and raise funds to re-pitch Peterborough Cathedral’s 1894 Hill organ. “It is major work and expensive, but vital for the future development of music here at the Cathedral.” The charismatic Robert Quinney has the vision and determination to make it happen. • www.peterborough-cathedral.org STAMFORD LIVING JANUARY 2014
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