Page 6 - Church Music Quarterly June 2018

A GREAT ADVENTURE RSCM DIRECTOR HUGH MORRIS INTRODUCES HIMSELF
It’s wonder ul to write this having been appointed as thenextDirectoro theRSCM.Churchmusichasbeen ahugeanddeeply ulfllingparto mylie orover threedecades,andit’snowsodeepinmyveinsthatI cannot imagine existing without it. I suspect that many readers o CMQ will be able to empathize with that. For me,theRSCMhasbeenanintegralparto thatjourney, andIamdelightedtobeabletoleaditinitsnextstage o development.Ihaveanumbero specifcvisions or the uturethatwillincludedevelopmentsinthe education programme, new ways o reaching out, and providing a wider range o support resources. I will, however,savethespecifcs oraserieso articlesin
uture editions. Instead, in this short article, so that youmightgetasenseo me,Iwilltalkbriefyabout mylieso arandtoexplainwhatchurchmusic means to me.
IfrstdevelopedaninterestinmusicatmyChurch
o Englandprimaryschool.Wehadacommittedmusic teacher, and she must have done something right because she ostered two current, serving cathedral directorso music.Bymylastyear,Iwasplaying
hymns on the piano in assembly. Yet it was through
the chapel choir at my senior school (Abingdon) that
I got the church music bug. Full admission to the choir meant you got to wear an RSCM tie to school, which
I still have to this day. I went on to learn the organ, playingatschoolandmyhomeparishchurcho St Helen in Abingdon. Later, I gained an organ scholarship to Magdalene College, Cambridge. My work there with the choirs, my degree in music, and my time studying the organ with the late David Sanger (who helped me gainmyFRCO)setmeup oracareerthathasseenme workinallsortso settingsupanddownthecountry. Ihavebeenanorganistinthelargesto cathedralsand thesmallesto villageparishes.Ihaveworkedwitha wholevarietyo instrumentalists,andwithchoirsand choristerso allagesandabilities.Throughmyworkas a teacher in schools, I have worked in a huge range o musical styles, meaning I am as com ortable playing keyboards orabandinashowasIamplayingBach keyboardsuitesonaharpsichord.
Myloveo theeclecticspillsintomychurch
music tastes, too. I’ve been privileged to have so many upli ting experiences o leading worship through music,o connectingthehumanwithglimpseso thedivine.Iretainmyenthusiasm orinspiringand developingskillsinothers,andmostespeciallyin youngpeople.Indeed,mycurrentrolehereatDerby Cathedral has o ered me the ulflling opportunity to train two wonder ul teams o trebles, and establish anewjuniorchoir.I’mnotjustamusician,though. In every church in which I have worked, I (and indeed mywieandtwodaughters,whoareaged10and12 andarebothchoristers)havebeenanactiveparto the community, seeking to develop not only my own Christian aith,butalsothelieo thechurchthere.
1998–9 Organ scholar, Salisbury Cathedral 1999–2001 Music teacher, Colston’s school, Bristol;
Assistantorganist,StStephen,Bristol
6 CMQ