Choral Services
- Mondays
- 6.00 pm - Choral Evensong (Boys' voices)
- Fridays
- 6.00 pm - Choral Evensong (Girls and Lay Clerks)
- Sundays
- 11.00 am - Choral Eucharist
- 3.30 pm - Choral Evensong (2nd and 4th Sundays)
Sunday Services are sung in rotation by all the groups, enabling all of them to share in leading the worship as well as enabling certain free weekends.
About the Music
Music has been offered in St Asaph Cathedral for centuries. It is a vital part of our worship and a tradition we are proud of. We extend warm hospitality to all those wishing to be involved in the musical life of the Cathedral.
Our choirs are justifiably renowned for their excellence, having been recently on BBC Radio 4’s morning service and also on two recent episodes of Songs of Praise.
St Asaph Cathedral is pleased to welcome visiting choirs over the summer months. If you are interested in bringing your choir to sing here, please contact the music department.
The Organist
Alan McGuinness was born in 1975 and began studying the organ at the age of fourteen whilst a pupil at Liverpool’s historic Blue Coat School. He continued his studies at The Royal Northern College of Music Manchester, where he was a prize winner, graduating in 1997 with BMus (Hons). During this time, his tutor was Margaret Phillips, however he performed in many master classes led by Dame Gillian Weir, David Sanger, David Briggs, Ludger Lohmann, Jacques Van Oortmerssen and Naji Hakim.
In September 1997 Alan became Organ Scholar at Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral and in December 1998 was appointed Assistant Organist at St. Asaph Cathedral in North Wales.
As well as providing organ accompaniments for the many services held in the Cathedral, he was given the task of promoting, establishing and directing a new Cathedral Girls’ Choir.
In January 2004 at the age of 28, he was appointed as Organist and Master of the Choristers.
He has directed the Cathedral Choirs in both live and recorded broadcasts for national radio and television and was organist for the recent two broadcasts of BBC TV “Songs of Praise.” In 2008 he directed the Cathedral Choirs for their first CD Recording “A Journey from Advent to Epiphany” and in April 2008 recorded the first solo organ CD from St. Asaph, celebrating 10 years since the restoration of the Cathedral Organ, also released on the Regent label. In February 2008 he directed the choir on the occasion of the visit to St. Asaph of H.R.H. The Duke of Kent.
In 2009 Alan directed the Cathedral Choir at the Inauguration and Installation of the First Chancellor of Glyndŵr University, which included a specially commissioned work for the choir by Owain Llwyd and directed the recent performance of William Mathias “Riddles” when the choir appeared in concert alongside the King’s Singers.
Alan has given many organ recitals at home and completed a concert tour of New York City and New England USA, where venues included the Jesuit church of St. Ignatius Loyola (the largest mechanical action organ ever to have been built by a British builder), St. Agnes’ and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He has also appeared as a soloist for the North Wales International Music Festival and as a staff accompanist for the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. He has served on the Royal School of Church Music North East Wales committee as Education and Training officer and is at present Chair of this committee. He is also St. Asaph Diocesan Representative for “Friends of Cathedral Music” – St. Asaph hosted a UK. gathering of this organisation in 2007.
“An auspicious debut…… McGuinness’s renditions are both stylistically appropriate and intrinsically musical – essential listening”
(Church Music Quarterly – Christopher Maxim, Feb 2009)
“ A fine performance on the St Asaph Organ… Alan McGuinness is well able to balance restrained power and suavity …. a great CD”
(Music Web International – John France, Jan 2009)
“An organ sequence you will want to repeat”
(Cathedral Music Magazine – Roger Tucker, May 2009)
Assistant Organist
John Hosking was born in Cornwall in 1976 and studied the organ with Peter Jolley and David Briggs. At the age of 18 he was awarded the Organ Scholarship at the Royal Parish Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, also winning the Robertshaw Exhibition from the Royal College of Organists to study with Martin Baker.
A student at the Royal College of Music from 1995 – 1999, John was appointed the Organ Scholar of Westminster Abbey in 1996 and is the only person to have ever held this post for a period of three years. During this time he accompanied the Abbey Choir on many Royal and State occasions, broadcast on BBC Radio and gave 20 solo recitals in the Abbey.
Upon graduating, John acted as Assistant Organist at Lincoln and Truro Cathedrals before being appointed Master of the Choristers at Bramdean School in Exeter. In much demand as a recitalist and accompanist, John has given concerts in Sweden, Germany, Canada and America and broadcast on BBC 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and worldwide on the Sky News and CNN programmes. He appears on several commercial CDs as soloist and accompanist, and has just released his second solo CD featuring large-scale German Romantic organ music on the organ at Truro Cathedral for the Regent label.
After leaving Bramdean School, John worked as a freelance musician in Cornwall, working regularly at Truro Cathedral and in churches throughout the diocese. He took up his present post as Assistant Organist of St. Asaph Cathedral in September 2004.