You can teach Primary Music - Coming in May

Thursday, 2nd September, 2010

Search the Rhinegold catalogue

Choir & Organ, cover from current issue

September/October 2010 on sale 3 August

Buy back issues | Renew subscription

Choir & Organ is the leading independent magazine for all professionals and amateurs in the choral and organ worlds – whether you are an organist, choral director or singer, organ builder, keen listener, or work in publishing or the record industry, Choir & Organ is a must-read wherever you live and work.

Every two months our expert contributors bring you beautifully illustrated features on newly built and restored organs, insights into the lives and views of leading organists, choral directors and composers, profiles of pioneering and well-established choirs, and topical coverage of new research, festivals and exhibitions. In keeping with our commitment to music at the cutting edge, we commission a new work from a young composer in every issue, making the score freely available for download and performance.

Our international news and previews, with breaking stories, key awards and forthcoming premieres, combine with reviews of the latest CDs, DVDs and sheet music, and listings of recitals, festivals and courses, to keep you up to date with events and developments around the world.

Editorial

Maggie Hamilton, editor Choir & Organ

Maggie Hamilton - Editor
From the current issue of Choir & Organ


Not drowning, but waving

Some years ago I was at a church conference when a speaker opened his address with, ‘The Church in Britain today is dead.’ True, the Church has been suffering dwindling congregations and deservedly negative media attention on acrimonious battlegrounds for some time. Its public face is certainly down – but out? I don’t think so, at least not yet. 

There is real leven in the dough of church music today – not only cathedral choirs, which remain a model of excellence to aspire to, but also what appears to be a new wave of grassroots activity to ensure ever higher levels of music-making in our local churches. Take St Chad’s Parish Church in Shrewsbury: Sam Baker’s vision sowed the seeds of a liturgical music tradition that is being energetically taken forward today by four choirs, organ scholarships, and a commissioned work for each annual Festival of Music. And it is not coincidence that I find myself receiving increasing numbers of review discs produced by good church choirs who, while they may not (yet) reach the highest peaks, nonetheless are stimulated to strive for a higher standard by the prospect of being recorded. 

It helps to have a good organ; and at a time of both secularisation and economic downturn, it is extraordinary that churches still believe it sufficiently important that they embark on exciting, costly projects. Cirencester’s new Harrison & Harrison injects vigour into the church’s worship and prompted a new festival. Similarly the Nicholson restoration at St Michael’s Cornhill, London, bears additional fruit in the form of an education programme. 

A good instrument is pointless without the skills to make the most of it. Institutions like the RSCM and RCO, and the AGO and RCCO in north America, plus course organisers like Oundle, Eton and St Giles, continue to equip and encourage church musicians all year round. And our On course supplement to this issue lists colleges, conservatoires and universities where church music can be studied on a full-time course; in our lead feature, Martin Jean, director of Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music, shares his insights into training for the profession. One could go as far as to say that church musicians are determined to ensure that reports of the Church’s death remain greatly exaggerated.

In The Next Issue of Choir & Organ: November/December 2010 on sale 5 October

  • Llandaff Cathedral is the second UK cathedral to install an entirely new, and entirely British, organ in recent months. William McVicker and Ian Bell assess the outcome, finding excitement and elegance, sparkle and sophistication. 
  • A ‘virtual choir’ on YouTube, a first album, and a residency at a Cambridge college; what makes US composer Eric Whitacre tick? 
  • Two churches in Dallas, Texas, are boosting their strong music programmes with new organs by Dobson and Richards, Fowkes
  • A medieval Irish narrative is the basis of a new 60-minute work by Tarik O’Regan, commissioned by the National Chamber Choir of Ireland as it approaches its 20th anniversary. 
  • How do 300 organ builders covering six continents give mutual support and share ideas with each other? The International Society of Organbuilders is a model of cooperation. 
  • Handel’s Messiah is staple fare for Advent concerts; David Hill gives conductors tips on drawing the most from their singers. 
  • Plus…News, reviews of the latest releases, our regular columns, recitals, and a preview of our sumptuous 2011 calendar.


Choir & Organ Composition Competition 2011 - click here for terms and conditions


Download the Rhinegold Education Catalogue (3MB, PDF)

World Conservatoires

See our new titles at MusicRoom.com

Cambridge Summer Music Festivals

Customer Service

Our dedicated customer service team is here to help.

Please click for full details of how to contact us.

©2010 Rhinegold Publishing | Web site design by Semantic