THE director of music at Winchester Cathedral has announced he will stand down after 22 years.
Dr Andrew Lumsden will leave the position on July 31. His final services and events will include the summer activities including the annual Liturgy of The Foundation.
He will also be presiding over the Southern Cathedrals Festival, held at Winchester this year, which will feature the combined choirs of Winchester, Salisbury and Chichester Cathedrals.
Dean Catherine Ogle said: “Andy Lumsden has been an outstanding Director of Music at Winchester Cathedral for over two decades. Throughout this time his contribution to the world of English choral music, and sheer musical excellence has been a daily inspiration to congregations and to all fortunate enough to worship here, including growing numbers of people online. In addition to his choral directorship skills, we should not forget his superlative and seemingly effortless playing of the organ.
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“During his time at Winchester, Andy Lumsden has trained generations of choristers, contributing not only to their musical and personal formation but also instilling a desire to make worship truly memorable for others. There are many pieces in the cathedral’s repertoire that it will be hard to imagine performed in any other way than with the emotional contours shaped by Andy.”
Andrew, who received an honorary doctorate from the University of Winchester in 2023, said: “It has been a real honour for me to work here for the past 22 years and a privilege to work with some wonderful people, not least my fellow organists, the lay clerks and the amazing boy and girl choristers.
“I am also very grateful to the Waynflete Singers for giving me the opportunity to conduct some of the larger-scale choral works. There are too many highlights for me but one that keeps coming back was the funeral of Sir John Tavener in 2013. The combination of Greek Orthodox liturgy and our own service was breathtaking in its beauty – as the then Dean James Atwell wrote at the time, ‘earth touched heaven’.
“Thank you to one and all for your support and good luck with whatever the future brings.”
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