Alan John Thurlow (born 18 May 1947) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

. He is best known as having been Organist and Master of the Choristers of

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of the ...

between 1980 and 2008.

Education

Thurlow was educated at

Bancroft's School Bancroft's School is a co-educational independent day school located in Woodford Green, London Borough of Redbridge. The school currently has around 1,000 pupils aged between 7 and 18, around 200 of whom are pupils of the Preparatory School a ...

Woodford Green Woodford Green is an area of Woodford in north-east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Buckhurst Hill to the north, Woodford Bridge to the east, South Woodford to the south, and Chingford to the west. Epping Fo ...

. He read

Music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

Sheffield University , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

before going on to

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

, for a period of research into pre-Reformation English Church Music.

Organist career

Thurlow joined the church choir at St Barnabas' Church, Woodford Green at the age of eight and became Master of Music at the church during his time at Bancroft's School. He held his position at St Barnabas' Church until 1973.

Durham

In 1973 he was appointed Sub-Organist at

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...

, and whilst there combined his duties at the Cathedral with those of

Director of Music A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the di ...

at the

Chorister School The Chorister School was a co-educational independent school for the 3 to 13 age range. It consisted of a Pre-School (opened in September 2008), a pre-preparatory and preparatory day and boarding school in Durham, England. It was set in an envia ...

and part-time

Lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

in Music at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

Chichester

In 1980 Thurlow succeeded Dr John Birch as Organist and Master of the Choristers of

. His first task was to oversee the rebuilding of the historic organ in the Cathedral, which had been abandoned as unplayable in 1972. Thurlow served as Administrator of the Committee which raised the funds for the Mander restoration that was completed in 1986. The Chichester organ is notable as being the only Cathedral organ in the country that escaped being romanticised in the nineteenth century. In the 1990s he served as a founder member of the Management Executive of the newly opened Pallant House Gallery, later continuing as a Trustee of the Friends of the Gallery. He has travelled with the Cathedral Choir and the

RSCM The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Thurlow retired from

in 2008. He has been credited with greatly improving the quality of music at the cathedral by expanding the choir's repertoire and building its reputation on the world stage.

Activism

Thurlow has long been a vocal opponent of mixed voice treble lines in cathedral choirs. In 1997 he offered his resignation to the Dean and Chapter of Chichester Cathedral after

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

insisted that their newly founded girls choir should sing together with the boy choristers at the 1998

Southern Cathedrals Festival The Southern Cathedrals Festival (known for short as "SCF") is a 5-day music festival held in rotation among the cathedrals of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury in England, in the penultimate week of July. The festival was restored in 1960 aft ...

that was to be held in Chichester. Thurlow told a meeting of the Festival's

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

s that his position would be made untenable if he were to accept this request, as he had "made such a strong case against this for so long" and "felt in (his) heart that it was wrong". Thurlow was backed by his choir, members of the Chichester congregation and the

Dean of Chichester The Dean of Chichester is the dean of Chichester Cathedral in Sussex, England. Bishop Ralph is credited with the foundation of the current cathedral after the original structure built by Stigand was largely destroyed by fire in 1114. Ralph di ...

John Treadgold John David Treadgold, LVO (30 December 1931 – 15 February 2015) was an Anglican priest. He was born on 30 December 1931 and educated at the University of Nottingham, he was ordained after a period of study at Wells Theological College in 1960. ...

. Treadgold refused his resignation and a compromise was reached with Salisbury. Since 2013 he has been Vice President of Campaign for the Traditional Cathedral Choir, the controversial

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

that was established in 1996 as a direct response to the rise of girls' choirs in the United Kingdom. For twelve years Thurlow was Chairman of the national charity,

Friends of Cathedral Music The Friends of Cathedral Music (FCM) is a charity which seeks to maintain and expand the work of choral foundations of cathedrals, collegiate churches, chapels, and other appropriate places of worship in the United Kingdom and Ireland. To this end, ...

, and for two years he served as President of the Cathedral Organists' Association. Nationally, he has served as Chairman of the Organs Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches. He is a Fellow of the

Royal College of Organists The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...

and the Royal School of Church Music, and honorary Fellow of both The Guild of Musicians and The Guild of Church Musicians and Singers, and in 2005 he received the award of a

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

Doctorate from

The Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

Television appearance

In March 2013, Thurlow appeared in an episode of '' Who Do You Think You Are?'', in which the comedian

John Bishop John Marcus Bishop (born 30 November 1966) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and former footballer. Bishop formerly played football as a midfielder for Winsford United F.C., Crewe Alexandra F.C., Runcorn F.C., Rhyl F.C., Witton Al ...

traced his great-great grandfather to the city of Chichester. Thurlow showed Bishop around Chichester Cathedral Library, as they discovered that Bishop's relative had been a

Lay Vicar A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in an Anglican cathedral and often Roman Catholic Cathedrals in the UK, or (occasionally) collegiate choir in Britain and Ireland. The vicars chora ...

at the cathedral.

Discography

As director: *2007 - Jubilate *2007 - Let Us Lift Up Our Heart: 19th Century Church Music *1999 - Benedicite *1999 - A Christmas Festival *1997 - Sing Ye to the Lord *1996 - Chichester Commissions *1996 - Great Cathedral Anthems Vol. 7 *1994 - Malcolm Archer: Requiem *1999 - A Festival of Anthems *1991 - Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis Vol. 2 *1991 - The Welkin Rings *1990 - Choral Music of Charles V. Stanford *1984 - 19th Century Church Music by Goss, Ousely, Smart, Stainer and S.S. Wesley *1984 - Cathedral Music by Geoffrey Burgon *1982 - Carols from Chichester *1981 - Peter Davey - Head Chorister of Chichester Cathedral *1981 - O Praise God in his Holiness As organist: *1986 - The Four Pipe Organs of Chichester Cathedral *1978 - Carols from Durham Cathedral *1978 - In Quires and Places (No. 26. Durham Cathedral Choir)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurlow, Alan 1946 births Living people Academics of the Royal College of Music British music educators British classical organists British male organists Alumni of the University of Sheffield Organists & Masters of the Choristers of Chichester Cathedral People educated at Bancroft's School Cathedral organists 21st-century organists 21st-century British male musicians Male classical organists