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Wedding Music This information is designed to provide an overview of the music that we can offer for your wedding. We can provide you with suggestions for music or take requests for your own specific requirements and can support and advise you at all stages of your service planning. For all enquiries about the choir and instrumentalists, please contact the Director of Music: Philip Viveash BA (Hons) Oxon, PG Dip RCM, Tel: 07785574259 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it For all enquiries about organ music, please contact the Organist and Assistant Director of Music: Julian Cooper BSc, PhD, FRCO Tel:07776 444440 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it If you are considering getting married at St Thomas-on-The Bourne, you are more than welcome to briefly speak to Philip or Julian after a service at your convenience – just turn up and there is no need to make a specific appointment; however, due to chorister training after Sunday morning services they will only be able to spend a couple of minutes with you at that time. It is advisable to make initial contact as early as possible especially where you require the choir or instrumentalists. This is especially the case if music needs to be obtained, which can sometimes take longer than expected. We will do everything in our power to make your wedding service as special as possible and wish you all the best with your planning and on the day itself. The Organist The Organist is Julian Cooper, BSc, PhD, FRCO was educated at RGS, Guildford and Durham University, studying Chemistry and is a fellow of the Royal College of Organists. He has held organist posts in Durham and St. Neots before moving to St Thomas-on-The Bourne. Julian has considerable experience with playing the organ for weddings, both at St Thomas and further a field, and will be able to meet specific requests with regard to wedding music. Whilst we can offer all the usual wedding music choices such as the Mendelssohn ‘Wedding March’ and the Widor ‘Toccata’, he is also happy to provide specific organ music upon request. If couples have a specific piece they wish played which would be more suitable on CD, we can also accommodate this. We are happy to guide you on this when you meet with us to discuss your arrangements. Julian is also available to play the organ at weddings outside of St Thomas-on-The Bourne. The Director of Music The Director of Music is Philip Viveash, BA Hons (Oxon), PG Dip. (RCM) is a music graduate of New College, Oxford where he was a choral scholar, trained on the Baylis Programme at English National Opera and completed his sturdies with three years at the Royal College of Music. Philip has worked extensively as a professional singer and conductor before moving to St Thomas as Director of Music. Philip is responsible for directing all of the choirs and for the chorister training at St Thomas and has a wealth of experience with choral directing. As with the provision of organ music, our choirs are also able to meet specific requests within the Anglican choral repertoire, or even more esoteric requests if sufficient notice is given. The Choirs It should be noted that if you choose not to have the choir, it is not necessary for the Director of Music to be involved. However, we would always strongly advise having the choir at your wedding as it really lifts the service, providing a strong lead during the hymns or psalm as well enhancing the service by singing other pieces during the signing of the register and sometimes also at the at the blessing. We are very fortunate at St. Thomas to have three choirs which sing regularly at weddings: 1. St. Thomas-on the Bourne Parish Choir is the traditional choir of Boy Choristers and Choir Gentlemen. The Boys are also available to sing on their own without the Choir Gentlemen. 2. St. Thomas' Girls' Choir also sings on its own and with the Choir Gentlemen. 3. St. Thomas-on-The Bourne Chamber Choir made up of adult sopranos and the Choir Gentlemen. All these choirs are available for your wedding, either individually or in combination. Traditionally people have chosen to have the Boy Choristers alone or with the Choir Gentlemen, and this has been one of the great privileges and strengths of St. Thomas over the years, and is why many people have chosen to have their wedding here. Alternatively you can have the Girls’ Choir alone, the Girls’ Choir and Choir Gentlemen, or the Chamber Choir. These choirs can provide a variety of different music, however the Chamber Choir can provide music of a significantly more elaborate nature, and is often the only choir available during the week, or during school holidays. We aim, with all our choirs, to provide the highest possible standard of music that we can, and we strive to make your day as special as possible. Any one of the choirs is also be available to sing for weddings outside of St Thomas-on-The Bourne. Order of Service If you are having an order of service printed and the choir is singing at your wedding, please allow twenty copies for the choir. We also ask you to acknowledge the Organist, Julian Cooper, and if you are having the choir the Director of Music, Philip Viveash, at the end of your Order of Service. Instrumentalists and Vocal Soloists We can provide a variety of instrumentalist and vocal soloists upon request, from trumpet players, oboists and string quartets to soprano soloists. The most common additional instrumentalist requested is a trumpeter, and this helps to lift the hymns, as well as providing a ‘live trumpet’ for pieces like the Clarke ‘Trumpet Voluntary’, Purcell ‘Trumpet Tune’ and other similar processional pieces. As an alternative to the choir singing we can readily offer vocal soloists to sing works of your choice, such as the Schubert ‘Ave Maria’. If you have a special request, please speak to us to see if we can provide what you need. Fees The fees below are correct for weddings at St. Thomas-on-The Bourne as of September 2008. We make no differentiation in fees for videoed and non-videoed, nor recorded and non-recorded, weddings. The Choirs are available and do sing at weddings at other churches, but in addition to the fees below there is normally an administration charge and travel costs: Please contact us and we can give you a quote. The Organist’s and Director of Music’s fees should be paid by cheque, made directly payable to Julian Cooper (organist) or Philip Viveash (Director of Music) and paid at least a week in advance of the wedding, to allow time for the cheque to clear. The Choir fee is to be given in two pound, one pound and fifty-pence coins to the Vicar at the final wedding rehearsal. Compulsory Music Fees Organist £175 If you wish to bring your own organist this fee of £175 is still payable Optional Music Fees Boy or Girl Choristers alone (£150 for Choristers + £175 for Director of Music) £325 Boy or Girl Choristers with Choir Gentlemen (£350 for Choir + £175 for Director of Music) £525 Chamber Choir (£350 for Choir + £175 for Director of Music) £525 Instrumentalists or vocal soloists at cost (usually around £150 per soloist) |