Honorary Awards 2010
ALED ON ROYAL LIST FOR CHURCH MUSIC AWARDS.
Singer and broadcaster Aled Jones is among those to receive honorary awards from the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM). The awards have been made annually for more than 60 years for outstanding contributions to church music (see end of this page for a full list). They range from the conferral of Fellowships (FRSCM) and Associateships (ARSCM) to Honorary Memberships (HonRSCM) and Certificates of Special Service. The 2010 awards will be presented at a special RSCM service in Durham Cathedral on 15th May 2010.
Among the other recipients this year are senior cathedral musicians, a leading musicologist and a former bishop, as well as RSCM volunteers in the UK, America and New Zealand. Commenting on the awards, Mark Williams, Chairman of RSCM Council and a member of the Awards Scrutiny Group says, “We have been delighted this year with a wide range of nominations to honour musicians who have worked tirelessly for the cause of music-making in worship in our churches and beyond.” Lindsay Gray, the Director of the RSCM says, “It is always a pleasure to recognise and reward those from churches large and small; these represent a much larger constituency of church musicians, whose commitment and dedication leads them to go the extra mile.”
The names of those receiving awards are as follows (fuller biographical details appear below):
Fellowship (FRSCM) - for achievements of international significance, or exceptional work for the RSCM
Cynthia DeDakis - President, RSCM America
Professor Jeremy Dibble - Durham University, leading music scholar
Philip Duffy - former Master of the Music, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
Trevor Ford - former Vice-Chairman of RSCM Council
Paul Hale - Organist & Rector Chori, Southwell Minster, Chairman RSCM Southwell and Notts Area Committee
Richard Lloyd - composer and former cathedral organist
Associateship (ARSCM) - for achievements of national significance, or important work for the RSCM
John Catterall MBE - active church musician in NW England, Chairman RSCM Lancashire Area Committee
The Rt Revd Edward Darling - retired Church of Ireland Bishop, hymnody expert
Peter Dyke - Assistant Organist Hereford Cathedral, Chairman of RSCM Herefordshire Area Committee
Robert Prizeman - Founder and Director of Libera, Music Adviser BBC TV’s Songs of Praise
Jeremy Suter - Organist and Master of the Choristers, Carlisle Cathedral
Roy Tankersley - Director of Winter School RSCM New Zealand, active church musician at community and national level
Honorary Membership (HonRSCM) - for exceptional or very significant work for church music or RSCM, at national or international level but not primarily musical or liturgical
Aled Jones - singer and broadcaster, presenter of Good Morning Sunday (BBC Radio 2), Songs of Praise (BBC TV) and The Choir (BBC Radio 3)
John Hume - active leading church musician, RSCM New Zealand
Certificate of Special Service - for significant administrative work as a volunteer or member of RSCM staff, or for a significant contribution to church music and/or liturgy at a local level
Sue Bartholomew - for significant contribution to RSCM Wessex, especially Come and Sing days
John Clisset - for seventy years dedicated service to St Paul’s, Sale, Cheshire
Keith Downie - for distinguished service to RSCM and church music in Northumbria, including 23 years as RSCM Area Secretary
Roger Gay - for many years of dedicated service to the RSCM and church music in Worcestershire, especially for administration of awards and festivals
Ann Jolly - for over ten years’ service as Area Secretary RSCM Essex & East London
David McAdam - for dedicated service to RSCM New Zealand Council and to the Waikato branch for many years
Trevor Tipple - for many years’ service to RSCM Worcestershire area, especially training of organists and organisation of choral festivals
Further biographical details of FRSCM, ARSCM and HonRSCM recipients:
Cynthia DeDakis (FRSCM) is President of RSCM America, and has done much to change the operation and image of the RSCM in the United States, including the establishment of the RSCM America office at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. She has been an RSCM course manager and RSCM Voice for Life coordinator, and is the first female president. She is a well-respected choral conductor and singer in her own right.
Professor Jeremy Dibble (FRSCM) has been a member of the Music Department at Durham University since 1993, and is a leading authority on the work of composers such as Stanford, Stainer and Parry. He has produced definitive performing editions of their canticles and anthems; many of which have been published by the RSCM.
Philip Duffy (FRSCM) - As Master of the Music at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral for thirty years, Philip Duffy developed a “modern” approach to choral singing in the Roman Catholic Church, during a time of immense change following Vatican II and moreover, in a new building. He served on the Council of the RSCM for eight years, has directed many local RSCM choral festivals, and worked as a tutor on a number of workshops and courses. Much of his own music is used widely in churches today.
Trevor Ford (FRSCM) has given long and distinguished service as a member of the RSCM Council. He also played an important role in the charity’s Finance Group. For many years he also edited the RSCM’s Church Music Quarterly magazine. He is an active church musician, formerly directing the choir at St John’s, Palmers Green, London.
Paul Hale (FRSCM) - For more than thirty years, Paul Hale has directed many RSCM courses and choral festivals in the UK and USA. He is currently Chairman of the RSCM Southwell & Notts Area Committee, and is an examiner for the RSCM Voice for Life Singing Awards. He directs the cathedral choir at Southwell Minster, and has been involved in the local Sing Up! project. He is also well-known as an organ recitalist, and organ adviser. He edited Organists’ Review for 15 years.
Richard Lloyd (FRSCM) has made an enormous contribution to church music as a composer, and as Organist and Master of the Choristers at Durham Cathedral for 11 years, and before that at Hereford. He is widely known and admired for his many anthems, which range from the easily accessible and singable, to more challenging works for cathedral choirs at the other end of the spectrum.
John Catterall (ARSCM) - For over 40 years, John Catterall has directed a thriving choir of more than thirty boys and thirty men at St John Baptist, Broughton, Preston, where the RSCM’s Voice for Life scheme is closely followed. Many have gained RSCM Bronze, Silver and Gold awards, and won places in the RSCM Northern Cathedral Singers. The choir has been on many cathedral visits, including an annual concert tour to France. John has served as RSCM Lancashire Area Chairman for the past 15 years, and received the MBE in 2002 for services to music.
The Rt Rev Edward Darling (ARSCM) - Bishop Edward has served in the Church of Ireland all his life. He was Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe from 1985 to 2000. He is an accomplished liturgist, hymnodist and musician and was the General Editor of both Irish Church Praise and the Church Hymnal (5th edition). He is co-author of the Companion to Church Hymnal (2006). Bishop Edward is currently Executive President of The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
Peter Dyke (ARSCM) is the Assistant Organist at Hereford Cathedral, and since 2001, has been Chairman of the RSCM Hereford Area Committee. The large numbers who attend the annual diocesan choirs’ festival are a testament to the care with which he oversees everything to do with this popular event. He is founder of the Diocese of Hereford Organists’ Training Scheme, which has done much to recruit and retain parish organists through a structured programme of tuition and examinations.
Robert Prizeman (ARSCM) has been the Music Adviser for BBC TV’s Songs of Praise for many years. He has continuously striven for quality choral and congregational singing, commensurate with the highest standards required for broadcasting. As an accomplished musician in his own right, he directs Libera - a successful choir of boy choristers in south London, whose CD recordings, TV appearances and tours are testament to their wide appeal. Libera provides a role model for many to follow.
Jeremy Suter (ARSCM) has been Master of the Music at Carlisle Cathedral since 1991, maintaining a fine choral tradition in spite of the difficulties in recruiting singers in a small city with no choir school. He also directs the cathedral’s youth and voluntary choirs, and launched an appeal in 1999 to establish a choral foundation. He is very active in a number of musical circles, including the local RSCM area committee. Ten years ago he helped to establish the annual Carlisle Festival. He supports the government Sing Up! scheme through the cathedral.
Roy Tankersley (ARSCM) - Based in New Zealand, Roy has organised many church music activities at community and national level, including direction of the RSCM Winter School. He is an organ consultant, motivator, workshop presenter, recitalist and choir trainer, as well as running an educational video project. Roy has had an enormous impact wherever he has been. His enthusiasm and passion for church music has inspired generations of New Zealanders.
Aled Jones (HonRSCM) has been involved in church music for almost all his life; today, he is particularly known for his work as a broadcaster and as a strong supporter of church music in all styles. As a boy, Aled was one of the finest treble soloists heard in the UK during the twentieth century whilst more recently he has done an enormous amount, primarily through the BBC programme Songs of Praise to bring music in worship to millions of people.
John Hume (HonRSCM) has been on the choral scene in New Zealand for more than 50 years, not least in his indefatigable efforts to advance the work of the RSCM throughout the country. He has been of tremendous support in his RSCM branch with administration and finance, and has worked hard at parish level and as a professional in the Bach Society, Dorian Choir and at numerous RSCM summer schools.
19 November 2009
The RSCM has made honorary awards since 1946; a detailed list of recipients is available here: