{"id":984,"date":"2025-01-01T15:08:46","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T15:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=984"},"modified":"2025-03-03T15:28:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T15:28:55","slug":"happy-new-year-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/news\/organist\/2025-01-01\/happy-new-year-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy New Year 2025!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

OK<\/span>, firstly I should stop titling updates with \u2018Happy \u2026 !\u2019. Secondly, I should also provide more fre\u00adquent updates here on what is going on in my pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal life. This sounds like a good basis for a New Year\u2019s resolution!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been nine months since my last post and, even though I have not made time to write about it here, there has been lots of won\u00adder\u00adful music-mak\u00ading going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

All Saints\u2019, Stamford<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In my main job as Dir\u00adect\u00ador of Music at All Saints\u2019 church in Stam\u00adford<\/a>, the sum\u00admer and autumn terms have con\u00adtained a host of music\u00adal delights. Our adult choir is con\u00adtinu\u00ading to expand, both in num\u00adbers and ambi\u00adtion, the former thanks at least in part to vari\u00adous events which have reached out to loc\u00adal sing\u00aders. In par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar, our \u2018Come &<\/span> Sing Stan\u00adford in Stam\u00adford\u2019 Chor\u00adal Even\u00adsong last July was a great suc\u00adcess, enjoyed by many.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Our monthly Chor\u00adal Even\u00adsongs at All Saints\u2019 (on the second Sunday of the month) con\u00adtin\u00adue to draw in sing\u00aders from choirs across the loc\u00adal area, with more always wel\u00adcome \u2013 get in touch<\/a> with me if you are inter\u00adested in join\u00ading us to sing for these (or for any) services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since East\u00ader, we have also re-formed the All Saints\u2019 Juni\u00ador Choir. This group is open to any chil\u00addren (aged 7+) in the Stam\u00adford area who love to sing. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Juni\u00ador Choir rehears\u00adals take the form of an after school club on Fri\u00addays, with the chor\u00adis\u00adters also reg\u00adu\u00adlarly singing for ser\u00advices, usu\u00adally on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. Along\u00adside the chance to enjoy singing togeth\u00ader reg\u00adu\u00adlarly, the Juni\u00ador Choir offers our chor\u00adis\u00adters free music tuition, helps them to devel\u00adop oth\u00ader social and per\u00adson\u00adal skills, plus they even get paid a mod\u00adest amount of pock\u00adet money for their involvement!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have close links with our loc\u00adal church school, St Gil\u00adber\u00adt\u2019s<\/a>, and a high\u00adlight of the pre-Christ\u00admas sea\u00adson has been hav\u00ading our Juni\u00ador Choir join with their school choir, plus oth\u00ader loc\u00adal chil\u00addren who were invited to \u2018Come &<\/span> be a chor\u00adis\u00adter\u2019 for the after\u00adnoon, for All Saints\u2019 Christingle ser\u00advice this year. It was amaz\u00ading to be able to com\u00adpletely fill our choir stalls with loc\u00adal chil\u00addren, who all sang brilliantly!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Our ser\u00advice of \u2018Car\u00adols by Candle\u00adlight\u2019 was also a huge high point of the Christ\u00admas sea\u00adson at All Saints\u2019. This saw both Adult and Juni\u00ador choirs singing, both sep\u00adar\u00adately and togeth\u00ader, to a packed-out church. We were ably sup\u00adpor\u00adted by organ\u00adist Ivan Lin\u00adford, and the ser\u00advice was even broad\u00adcast on the loc\u00adal radio sta\u00adtion \u2018Rut\u00adland &<\/span> Stam\u00adford Sound<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freelance Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Along\u00adside all this busy\u00adn\u00adess in Stam\u00adford, it has been good to keep freel\u00adance work going on along\u00adside. It has been a pleas\u00adure to join the staff of Stam\u00adford Endowed Schools<\/a> as one of their School Organ\u00adists, and to now be work\u00ading with their Chapel Choir. Teach\u00ading my organ pupils<\/a>, par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlarly observing all their pro\u00adgress, remains a pleas\u00adure too. A more sombre side to my pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal life comes from hav\u00ading joined the team of organ\u00adists at War\u00adren Hill Crem\u00adat\u00adori\u00adum in Ket\u00adter\u00ading \u2013 one of the few crem\u00adat\u00ador\u00adia to still employ live musicians\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, it is always a joy to be asked to play for oth\u00ader groups and along\u00adside oth\u00ader musi\u00adcians, a recent high\u00adlight hav\u00ading been per\u00adform\u00ading the first half of J S Bach\u2019s Christ\u00admas Ora\u00adtor\u00adio<\/em> with Col\u00adlegi\u00adum Laur\u00adeatum<\/a> in my long\u00adtime role as their rehears\u00adal accom\u00adpan\u00adist and con\u00adtinuo play\u00ader. It has been good to form new links; I enjoyed play\u00ading for the choir of St Wul\u00adfram\u2019s, Grantham<\/a>, provid\u00ading cov\u00ader for an even\u00adsong of music includ\u00ading Edward Bairtstow\u2019s fant\u00adast\u00adic anthem Blessed city, heav\u00adenly Salem<\/em> (even at only three days emer\u00adgency notice!).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Into the New Year<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

2024 has, fol\u00adlow\u00ading our relo\u00adca\u00adtion to Stam\u00adford after many years in Cam\u00adbridge, been a year of new begin\u00adnings. I am thank\u00adful for the new oppor\u00adtun\u00adit\u00adies that this has provided and for all the new con\u00adnec\u00adtions that have come about because of this change; I am look\u00ading for\u00adward to con\u00adtinu\u00ading to cul\u00adtiv\u00adate many of these new pos\u00adsib\u00adil\u00adit\u00adies through the next year. I am also mak\u00ading a res\u00adol\u00adu\u00adtion to endeav\u00adour to keep this site more up to date to fol\u00adlow the pro\u00adgress of these devel\u00adop\u00adments. There will be some site changes in early 2025 to enable this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now though, with the busy\u00adn\u00adess of the Christ\u00admas sea\u00adson now past, all that remains to say is Happy New Year, and here\u2019s to 2025!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bene\u00addict<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OK<\/span>, firstly I should stop titling updates with \u2018Happy \u2026 !\u2019. Secondly, I should also provide more fre\u00adquent updates here on what is going on in my pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal life. This sounds like a good basis for a New Year\u2019s res\u00adol\u00adu\u00adtion! \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading \u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,52,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conductor","category-organist","category-site-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=984"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":998,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/984\/revisions\/998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedicttodd.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}