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St Columb's Cathedral Choir
The history of the Choir of the Cathedral is a long and interesting one. Unlike the choral foundations of England or Dublin, St Columb’s Cathedral has never had a choir school so has relied for much of its time on volunteer singers.
Records show that it was a mixed (boys and girls) choir until the late 19th century. A growing awareness of the English tradition seems to have led to the formation of an all-male choir by the turn of the century - possibly due to the influence of Bishop Alexander and his wife Cecil Frances, the well known hymn-writer.
It appears that standards were difficult to maintain and a choir "committee" made several complaints and representations to the Organists of the day. This lack of quality however was not an uncommon occurrence in English Cathedrals at the time as several musical histories will relate.
Daniel Jones was appointed Organist in 1878 and oversaw the developments that resulted for the extension of the Chancel in 1888. By 1902 however complaints were again being made about the Choir. At this time it became the custom for the Head Choristers to be imported from Yorkshire. They were given scholarships to study at Foyle College and given board and lodging in return for their services.
Jones died in 1911 and was succeeded by Sydney Weale who was in post for only three years. In 1913 Henry Coleman was appointed. He went on to become Organist at Peterborough Cathedral and a composer of some note but not before raising the standards of music in the cathedral to new heights. he resigned as the result of a contractual dispute in 1921.
John Frankland was his successor and stayed in post until 1948 when Michael Franklin took the helm. Under these two men the choral tradition of the Cathedral was firmly established and reached a national audience. In 1957 the cathedral Choir broadcast Choral Evensong on the BBC, the first Irish Cathedral to so do.
Franklin retired in 1968 and over the next four years things were unsettled. The onset of the "Troubles" meant that Organists followed in fairly rapid succession until the appointment of Michael Hoeg in 1972. His seven years at the cathedral were very successful and the Choir went through one of its strongest periods, still fondly remembered.
Hoeg's successor, Marc Rochester, was in post for only one year and was succeeded by Billy West, head of Music at Foyle and Londonderry College. After seven years the reins were handed over to Alec Best, also a native of the city, who went on to pursue a teacher training course in 1990.
Our most recent Organist and Master of the Choristers, Tim Allen, took office in June 1991. He was previously Assistant Master of the Music at Chelmsford Cathedral in Essex. Tim has since resigned from the post and taken up a post in St. Louis in the USA in October 2001.
This post was filled by Mr Jonathan Lane from London, during the period March 2002 until November 2003. Jonathan has now taken up the post of Director of Music at St Thomas-on-The-Bourne, Surrey.
Mr Ian Mills B.Mus (Hons) A.R.C.O. took up the post of Organist and Master of the Choir in March 2005. Please click on the link to enter the St Columb's Cathedral Choir website.
