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Music at St Bart’s
RUPERT GOUGH
Director of music
James Norrey
Organist
David Gostick
Deputy Director of Music
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Rupert Gough became the first Organist and Director Music of the Parish of Great St Bartholomew on 1st June 2015, the same day the new Parish was formed.
Rupert has been Director of Choral Music and College Organist at Royal Holloway, University of London since 2005. He previously spent 11 years as Assistant Organist at Wells Cathedral where he worked closely with the choir both as accompanist and choir trainer. During this time he featured on 19 recordings as either organist or conductor, including six discs for Hyperion Records.
His overall discography of nearly 50 commercial recordings encompasses work as a choir director, organist and harpsichordist, and includes the organ and choral works of Sir Percy Buck (Priory), the instrumental and choral works of Carson Cooman (Naxos and Albany), the complete works for violin and organ of Josef Rheinberger and choral works of Rihards Dubra, Vytautas Miškinis and Bo Hansson (Hyperion).
At Royal Holloway, Rupert has developed the choral programme to include weekly choral recitals, choral conducting courses for undergraduates, new choral commissions and transformed the Chapel Choir into an elite group of 24 choral scholars that has come to prominence in the last three years through their series of recordings for Hyperion Records. They have developed a particular reputation for their performances and recordings of music from the Baltic States. They also regularly commission from, and collaborate with, contemporary composers including James MacMillan, Gabriel Jackson, Richard Rodney Bennett, Bo Hansson and, Tim Garland.
Born in 1971, Rupert was a chorister at the Chapels Royal, St. James’s Palace, and won a scholarship to the Purcell School. He received (with distinction) a Masters degree in English Church Music from the University of East Anglia whilst Organ Scholar at Norwich Cathedral. In 2001, he won Third Prize at the St. Alban’s International Organ Competition. He is particularly renowned for his work in combination with violin as a member of the Gough Duo. As a conductor he has worked with a variety of professional choirs and orchestras including the Britten Sinfonia, the London Mozart Players and Florilegium. He has also been fortunate to work with many distinguished soloists including Julian Lloyd Webber, Antony Rolfe Johnson, Felicity Lott, Susan Bullock, Emma Kirkby, James Bowman and Wayne Marshall. -
David Gostick is a conductor and collaborative keyboard player with a wide-ranging career. He was Sub-Organist at St Bartholomew the Great until late 2020, and remains with us as Assistant Director of Music, helping with conducting the choir for services.
David conducts the Bournemouth Sinfonietta Choir, one of the south’s leading chamber choirs, who have a strong reputation for contemporary music. They have commissioned major works from Cecilia MacDowall and Tarik O’Regan, and given performances of 21st century works by Bingham, Dove, Ferguson, Jackson, MacMillan, Panufnik, Roth, Rutti, Sinclair and Todd, working with Kokoro, the contemporary ensemble of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphonic Brass and the Sinfonietta Players. They have recorded two CDs: Landscapes, a collection of music inspired by the British countryside and Noël! Noël! a Christmas collection, and have appeared on Radios 3 and 4.
David took up the baton of the Portsmouth Choral Union in 2012. With them he has conducted major repertoire such as Berlioz Te Deum, Britten War Requiem, Elgar Dream of Gerontius and Verdi Requiem. Together they have produced the world premiere recording of Samuel Wesley’s masterpiece Confitebor Tibi Domine, with Southern Pro Musica on the Priory label.
Before coming to St Bartholomew’s, David was Director of Music at Wimborne Minster, where cathedral-style services are maintained by a traditional choir of men and children. Under his mentorship several former choristers have gone on to music college and into the profession.
In the field of opera, David has worked with several companies as a conductor, repetiteur and chorusmaster. He was Head of Music at Co-Opera Co, and has worked with OperaUpClose, Dorset Opera, British Youth Opera, Opera Istante, Dorset Productions and Kentish Opera.
David is a frequent guest conductor with the Medici Choir, the Brandenburg Sinfonia and the Bournemouth Philharmonic. He is active as a collaborative pianist, and as an organist has performed at prestigious venues such as Westminster Abbey and the Royal Albert Hall.
David began his studies with an organ scholarship at Southwell Minster, then at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he studied organ and harpsichord with baroque specialist John Wellingham, and piano with Raymond Fischer. He went on to study orchestral conducting with George Hurst and Denise Ham. He is currently undertaking doctoral studies on the 18th century handwritten partbooks in Wimborne Minster’s Chained Library. -
James Norrey received his musical education at Chetham’s School of Music studying organ with Christopher Stokes, Organist and Master of the Choristers of Manchester Cathedral, and at Trinity College of Music studying with William Whitehead.
Known for his ‘ever-supportive organ accompaniment’ James is in high demand as an accompanist; James is Organist and Visiting Tutor of Piano and Organ of Forest School where he plays for the Chapel services and accompanies the Chapel Choirs and is also a founding member of Seraphim, a London based ensemble who released their debut recording titled Three Messages (available on iTunes) featuring music by Thomas Hewitt Jones and Robert Mingay-Smith.
James has held posts at the Cathedrals of Canterbury, Chelmsford, Llandaff, Newcastle and Rochester. At Llandaff, he recorded the first choral CD recording with the new Nicholson of Malvern organ titled Majestas (available on iTunes) and played for Her Majesty the Queen in a service of celebration for her Diamond Jubilee. At Rochester, as well as accompanying the Cathedral Choir and training the Choristers, James accompanied the Choir on BBC Radios 2 & 3 and BBC Radio Kent and for the Choir’s last CD, The Songs the Angels sing (available on Regent Records).
James has also performed on BBC Songs of Praise and in concert at many of the major British cathedrals and abroad in Antwerp, Malta, Gozo, Romania and Vienna.
Our Professional Choir
Choral scholars
Thanks to the generosity of several private donors, St Bartholomew the Great is offering scholarship opportunities in partnership with Royal Holloway, University of London. The scheme provides for four students (usually in their final year) to gain further experience by singing alongside our professional choir during the academic terms. They will usually join our choir for Eucharist but may occasionally sing at Evensong instead. It is anticipated that the experience of singing with our choir, and being mentored by our regular singers, will help these talented young singers to gain experience and make valuable contacts. The scheme does not reduce the number of regular professional singers at our services, but rather complements the work that they do, allow a wider variety of repertoire to be performed, and allowing us to provide a valuable educational opportunity to those who need it. The four final year students are selected by audition for each academic year. The names of the successful singers can be found below.
EVE GARRARD
Soprano
ELEANOR LUCY ORMROD
Alto
ROBERT
MURRAY JOHN
Tenor
GABRIEL HUC
Bass