We're looking for a Music Director 🎶
About the church
Hornsey Parish Church is part of the Church of England in the Edmonton Area of the Diocese of London, which in turn is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. We are a diverse and vibrant church with a congregation representative of the varied community that Hornsey is: young and older; married, single and partnered; straight and gay; British and international. The style of our worship is focused upon the Eucharist. We see our liturgical life as very important: not fussy, and celebrated with attention and care.
Music and the choir
The Music Director is a key figure in the leadership team at Hornsey Parish Church. With music at the centre of this liturgically focused church, the Music Director has the opportunity to shape their own chapter in the musical life of our church.
Music in all its forms is vitally important to our worship here at Hornsey. We have a friendly choir which welcomes anyone who wants to take part in any of our musical activities, irrespective of whether they can read music or not.
Our choir - soprano, alto, tenor and bass, all adults - currently has around 12 regular members who sing weekly at our Sunday Eucharist (10.30am service). There is a congregational mass setting and hymns, and the choir sings an anthem and a responsorial psalm every week. We rehearse after the Sunday service during term time. Hopefully the new Music Director could grow the choir (in all voice parts).
Music at Hornsey Parish Church is “traditional” in many ways, and the hymn book we use is Ancient and Modern. We seek a Music Director who will be confident leading in this milieu, but able to bring an openness to music from a variety of other traditions too.
We also have a few able instrumentalists who occasionally play for services, and this is something we would ask a new musical director to nurture and grow.
There are occasional midweek festival services, a full set of Christmas and Easter services, and the aim has been to do an Evensong or Compline service once a term. The Music Director has first refusal on occasional offices.
The organ and piano
The church was built in 1959 and the organ is original to the building, a 1959 J. W. Walker & Sons organ, rebuilt and enlarged in 1984 by Saxon Aldred, electrical action with “solid state” relay, 2 manuals, one pedal board and 1300 pipes.
We have a grand piano (Broadwood) on loan, which is typically used for the psalm and communion hymn during Sunday services, and to accompany the choir during rehearsals.
Other opportunities
Hornsey Parish Church has a tradition of using the performing arts as part of its missional strategy. Our most recent musical, ‘Oh! What a Lovely War’, staged in 2018, was the most recent in a series of productions performed in the church, including ‘Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat’ and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. Whilst we would not assume that the Music Director will be involved in this part of the parish, there is an opportunity to contribute musically if they wished. We also have a history of occasional choir concerts, and if wished the Music Director could become involved with musical opportunities in the church schools.
Person specification
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Must be a team-player
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An ability to work well with the clergy team
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Organised
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Leadership ability, able to lead and encourage choir volunteers at different levels of musical proficiency
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Sympathetic and empathetic
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Consultative and collaborative
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Inclusive and welcoming
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Not competitive but generous, allowing the gifts of others to develop
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Understanding of the religious dimension of church life
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Sense of humour
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DBS clearance
Skills and qualifications
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Accomplished pianist and conductor
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Organist (or if not willing to learn)
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Good administration skills
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Good understanding of church music and liturgy
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Ability to plan music ahead, but flexible enough to improvise when things go wrong
Main responsibilities
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In consultation with clergy, to plan music for Sunday services and holy days
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To organise and lead evening choir rehearsals once a week and on Sunday before the service, equipping the choir with resources and skills they need to participate fully in the music chosen
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To direct and manage the choir, and to seek to recruit new members
How to apply
To apply for the position of Organist/Musical Director at Hornsey Parish Church, please send a CV and letter of application to the Rector, Fr Bruce Batstone including the names of two referees. Email: fr.bruce@hornseyparishchurch.org
Closing date for applications: 12 noon 30th September 2024
Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview, and asked to demonstrate both piano/organ playing and choir direction ability.