SENIOR ORGAN SCHOLAR
(Second Assistant)
Introduction
Wells Cathedral is seeking to appoint a Senior Organ Scholar (Second Assistant) from September
2015. Applicants for the post are normally expected to be in sympathy with the Church of England.
However, those who fall outside this category but are interested in applying for the position are
most welcome to do so and are invited to discuss the matter further with the Precentor at
interview. Applications are welcome from pre- and post-university candidates.
The Cathedral and its worship
A Cathedral Church has stood on this site for over a thousand years. The present building was begun
around the year 1180 and was the first cathedral in England to be completely in the Gothic style.
With its perfect proportions, its lightness of architecture and its honey-coloured stone, Wells
Cathedral is widely recognised to be one of the very finest jewels in the crown of English Cathedrals.
In its worship and life the Cathedral seeks to reflect and express a theology of the Beauty of God,
and be, for the very many thousands who come to visit or worship, a place of divine attraction.
Worship is at the heart of the Cathedral’s life. On Sundays the services are: 0800 Holy Communion
(said); 0945 Sung Eucharist; 1130 Sung Mattins; and 1500 Choral Evensong. On weekdays, Morning
Prayer is said at 0730, followed by said Holy Communion at 0800. Choral Evensong is sung at 1715.
The Christian year provides the framework for additional liturgical activities in which the Cathedral
Choir plays an essential part, together with a wide range of special services for the diocese, county
and wider community.
The Chapter is firmly committed to maintaining and developing the established tradition of worship
and music making; yet it recognises that in all areas of cathedral life there is the creative tension
between continuity and change, established excellence and innovative exploration.
The Music Foundation
The Cathedral’s Music Foundation currently includes the Organist & Master of the Choristers, the
Assistant Organist, the Senior Organ Scholar (Second Assistant), and the Junior Organ Scholar, who
is normally a student at Wells Cathedral School. There is a full-time PA to the Organist & Master of
the Choristers, who also acts as the Music Foundation Secretary.
The Choral Foundation currently comprises 18 boy choristers, 18 girl choristers, 9 Vicars Choral and
3 choral scholars. All the choristers are educated at Wells Cathedral School, one of the five specialist
music schools in the United Kingdom. Pupils at the school are both boarding and day; the age range
is from 4-18.
Job Description
The Senior Organ Scholar works under the direction of the Organist & Master of the Choristers and
the supervision of the Precentor. The exact balance of duties will depend on the particular skills and
interests of the person appointed and the job description may be revised in response to changing
circumstances.
The duties are currently as follows:
1.
To play for the cathedral services as directed by the Organist, in accompanying the cathedral
choir and playing voluntaries.
2.
To take rehearsals with the choristers as directed, and to conduct the full choir from time to
time in cathedral services.
3.
To be responsible for the safe return of the choristers to the designated point at the School
following all rehearsals and services, except in the event of their day-off, when it will be the
responsibility of the Organist or Assistant Organist.
4.
The Senior Organ Scholar is responsible for the music library, for ensuring that the
choristers and Vicars Choral have the music they need, and – with the help of choristers and
a Choral Scholar – to ensure that it is put away at the end of each week. This is an important
responsibility and efficiency and forward planning is essential.
5.
To attend regular planning meetings with the Organist and Assistant Organist, and weekly
meetings with the Precentor.
6.
The cathedral currently pays a salary of £8,136 per annum and provides rent-free
accommodation in Vicars’ Close. The individual is responsible for council tax, gas, water,
electricity, and telephone bills. Additional fees for concerts, recordings and broadcasts may
be available.
7.
The Senior Organ Scholar is the Accompanist and Assistant Musical Director of the Wells
Cathedral Oratorio Society, for which additional fees are payable.
8.
The Senior Organ Scholar must at all times take account of the requirements of relevant
legislation and the Cathedral policy in respect of child protection. This post is subject to an
enhanced CRB check. The property in Vicars’ Close may not be used for the private tuition
of under-18 year-olds.
9.
Administrative duties in the Music Office, averaging not more than two hours per week
during term time.
There may be opportunities to work at Wells Cathedral School. The successful applicant will be put
in touch with the school after the interview process.
Application procedure
Applicants are asked to send their application to: Mr Matthew Owens, Organist & Master of the
Choristers, Wells Cathedral Music Office, Chain Gate, Cathedral Green, Wells, Somerset BA5 2UE
This should consist of:
 A letter of application which explains what attracts you to this particular post, highlights
those aspects of your experience which strengthen your application, and gives some idea of
how this appointment would fit with your plans for career development.
 Your curriculum vitae. The names of three referees should be given. Your referees should
include a priest and/or current employer, together with two musicians of standing.
Timetable
Completed applications should be sent so as to arrive by 12 noon on Friday 18 September 2015.
Details correct as at 2015-06-19
WELLS CATHEDRAL CHOIR
WELLS CATHEDRAL CHOIR was hailed recently by an international jury from Gramophone
Magazine as the greatest choir with children in the world, and the sixth greatest overall. The choir
celebrated its 1100th birthday in 2009: boys first sang at Wells Cathedral in 909 and the full choral
tradition dates back over 800 years. In 1994 the choral foundation at Wells was enriched by the
addition of girl choristers. Today the choir consists of eighteen boy choristers, eighteen girl
choristers and twelve Vicars Choral (the men of the choir). The boys and girls usually sing separately
with the Vicars Choral but occasionally come together for larger events and tours.
The choir is at the heart of the worshipping life of the Cathedral, and sings a wide repertoire of
music ranging from the masterpieces of the Renaissance period to the finest choral works of the
present day. New music is also commissioned from some of today’s most exciting composers,
including Richard Allain, David Bednall, Judith Bingham, Geoffrey Burgon, Bob Chilcott, Jonathan
Dove, Gabriel Jackson, John Joubert, James MacMillan, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (Master of the
Queen’s Music), Tarik O’Regan, John Rutter, Howard Skempton, and Philip Wilby. The choir sings
throughout the cathedral’s festival, launched in June 2008: new music wells, giving a number of
premiers as well as featuring music from the previous forty years.
Wells Cathedral Choir broadcasts regularly on BBC Radios 2, 3 and 4, and on television. Its recent
innovative recordings for Hyperion Records and Regent Records have won international praise:
“wonderfully blended, and must rank as one of the top cathedral sounds outside London” (BBC Music
Magazine); “currently enjoying a superb top line” (The Observer), and has had two recent discs made
Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine which called the choir “probably the finest English cathedral
choir at the moment” in “world-class form”.
As well as the liturgical musical repertoire the choir performs larger scale choral works in concert,
with recent collaborations including The King’s Consort (Bach, St Matthew Passion), the BBC National
Orchestra of Wales (Britten War Requiem), Jools Holland and his band (Jools Holland Mass), Wells
Cathedral Oratorio Society (Britten St Nicolas and War Requiem), Aled Jones, Dame Felicity Lott, and
Wells Cathedral School Chamber Orchestra (at a royal gala concerts at the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden, and St James’s Palace, London). The choir has toured extensively with recent tours
to Paris (2006), the North West of England (2008), Germany (2009), The Netherlands (2010),
Scotland (2011), and Hong Kong and Beijing (2012).
The choir sings under the direction of Matthew Owens who has been Organist & Master of the
Choristers since January 2005, having previously been Organist and Master of the Music at St Mary’s
Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh (from 1999-2004) and Sub Organist of Manchester Cathedral, and
Conductor of The Exon Singers (1996-2011). He is also Tutor in Organ Studies at Wells Cathedral
School (one of the five specialist music schools in the UK), Conductor of the Wells Cathedral
Oratorio Society, and was President of the Cathedral Organists’ Association (2010-13).
He studied at Chetham’s School of Music, The Queen’s College, Oxford, the Royal Northern
College of Music and the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. From 1994-99, he was Tutor in
Organ Studies at the RNCM and Chetham’s and worked for BBC Religious Broadcasting.
As a conductor and solo organist he has premiered many works by leading composers including
James MacMillan, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Arvo Pärt, and Giles Swayne. He is active as a composer
and some of his works have been recorded for commercial release and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
The choir is accompanied by the Assistant Organist, Jonathan Vaughn, who was appointed in
September 2007. Previously he was Organ Scholar at St George’s Chapel, Windsor and St John’s
College, Cambridge (under both Christopher Robinson and David Hill) and Assistant Organist at St
Edmundsbury Cathedral, Suffolk.