1 Canterbury Cathedral


Last updated:
1 Jan 99

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Christchurch

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Organist:
Organist and Master of the Choristers: David Flood (1988)

Assistant:
Timothy Noon (Jan 1997)

Organ:
Willis, rebuilt by N P Mander in 1978.
3 manuals, sited in the South Quire Triforium and Nave.

Choir:
30 boys (choir school), 4A 4T 4B

Services:
5:30 Mon, Tue, Wed (men), Thu (boys), Fri; 3:15 Sat
Sunday: 11:00 Eucharist, 3:15 Evensong
Telephone: 01227 762862, Fax: 01227 762897

Recordings:
York Ambisonic, Metronome.
Most recently, Thomas Tallis, Canterbury Years.
York Ambisonic made another recording during early 1998: Canterbury Christmas

Other
Information:

Canterbury Celebrated St Augustine's 1400th Anniversary

(Information courtesy of
The Friends of Cathedral Music)

To mark the 1400th anniversary of the arrival of St Augustine (sent from Rome by Pope Gregory to revive Christianity in southern England), the Canterbury Festival in October 1997 was the climax of year-long celebrations.

A new visitor centre opened in April 1997 at St Augustine's Abbey where ruins of the monastery built by Augustine can be seen.

1998 brings the Lambeth Conference to the Cathedral (and to the University of Kent) from 19th July to 8th August.

1998 is also the 500th anniversary of Bell Harry Tower (the central tower of the Cathedral).

Tourist enquiries should be addressed to David Earlam, Director of Visits, Cathedral House, 1 The Precincts, Canterbury, CT1 2EH, telephone 01227 762862, fax 01227 762897.

NEW! 1999 Tour of US and Canada Canterbury Cathedral Choir is to perform in distinguished venues in major cities offering rich, diverse programme of choral masterworks spanning the centuries.

The Canterbury Cathedral Choir, under the direction of Cathedral Organist and Master of the Choristers, David Flood, will make a nine-stop tour over fifteen days next April 6-20 (1999), performing six concerts in the U.S. and three in Canada.

The itinerary comprises:

  • The Cathedral of St John the Baptist, St John's Newfoundland -- April 6;
  • Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa -- April 8;
  • St Paul's Anglican Church, Toronto -- April 9;
  • Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago -- April 11;
  • St James Episcopal Church, Lancaster, PA -- April 13;
  • St Mark's Church, Philadelphia -- April 14;
  • Trinity Episcopal Church, Hartford -- April 16;
  • the Cathedral of St Philip, Atlanta -- April 18;
  • the Church of the Incarnation, Dallas -- April 19.

The tour choir will consist of the complete, full-time ensemble from Canterbury: eighteen boys between the ages of 8 and 12 years, twelve lay clerks (men's voices), Mr. Flood and Organist Andrew Bryden.

A performing organization with an international reputation for high standards, the Canterbury Cathedral Choir is the resident musical ensemble for the spiritual seat of the 70 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion that reaches into more than 160 countries. As the birthplace of English Christianity, and the church home to 103 Archbishops of the Anglican Church, Canterbury Cathedral has become sacred to pilgrims as an international shrine.

The Cathedral's appeal extends beyond religious interests to English literature with Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and T.S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral". The walled City of Canterbury is one of Britain's centerpieces of medieval history and, along with the Cathedral, is one of its most popular tourist destinations hosting some 3 million visitors per year.

Under David Flood's leadership, the Canterbury Cathedral Choir has conducted critically acclaimed tours in Europe and North America -- including a highly successful tour of the U.S. and Canada in 1994. In 1997, the Choir celebrated the 1400th anniversary of the arrival of St Augustine in Canterbury with concerts in Rome and throughout France. That same year, Mr. Flood and the Cathedral hosted an American Children's Choir Festival with over 400 participants; they will repeat the event in 1999.

Canterbury Organist and Master of the Choristers David Flood received his musical training as an Organ Scholar of St John's College, Oxford, and through additional postgraduate work at Clare College, Cambridge. He was appointed Assistant Organist at Canterbury Cathedral in 1978, serving under Allan Wicks, and assumed the position of Organist and Master of the Choristers at Lincoln Cathedral in 1986. Two years later he returned to Canterbury to succeed Dr. Wicks, who was retiring. Mr. Flood is
responsible for leading the Cathedral's extensive music program of daily sung services, special concerts and programs as well as the festive occasions of the church. Such occasions have included the enthronement of the Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, and last summer's Lambeth Conference -- the worldwide gathering of bishops in the Anglican Communion held once a decade. Next July, David Flood will be part of the conducting team for the famed Berkshire Choral Festival in western Massachusetts.

Tickets for the U.S. concerts of the Canterbury Cathedral Choir tour are $25, $20 and $15 general admission, and may be charged by phone (all major credit cards) via a toll-free tour hotline (800-874-9330) or on the World Wide Web at www.stewartgrp.com/canterbury. Tickets may also be purchased by cash or check locally through the host venues, except Chicago. For Canadian concert tickets, contact the host venues.

The tour is under the joint management of Reputation Management, a marketing/communication strategies firm in Cambridge, Mass., and MTS Travel of Lancaster County, PA, a leader in the group travel and tour management industry.

Previous
Organists:
Clement Palmer (1908-1936)
Gerald Knight (1937-1952)
Douglas Hopkins (1953-1955)
Sidney Campbell (1956-1960)
Allan Wicks (1961-1988)



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