Katherine Dienes also known as Katherine Dienes-Williams (born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, 10 January 1970) is a

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-born

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 ...

, conductor and

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. She is currently

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 ...

and Master of the Choristers at

Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral at Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral stands, with Viscount Bennett, ...

and is the first woman to hold the most senior musical post in a

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cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

. Her husband is Patrick Williams, librarian of the

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, and they have a daughter, Hannah, who sang as a chorister at Guildford Cathedral .

Early career and education

Dienes was born and educated in

, and studied for a BA in Modern Languages and a BMus at Victoria University, Wellington. She was

organ scholar An organ scholar is a young musician employed as a part-time assistant organist at a cathedral, church or institution where regular choral services are held. The idea of an organ scholarship is to provide the holder with playing, directing and adm ...

Saint Paul's Cathedral, Wellington The Wellington Cathedral of St Paul (also called St Paul's Cathedral or Wellington Cathedral) is an Anglican church in the city of Wellington, New Zealand. It is the mother church of the Diocese of Wellington and the cathedral of the Bishop of W ...

from 1988 to 1991 when she was appointed Assistant Organist there. She also acted as Assistant Conductor of the Wellington Youth Choir and appeared as a soloist with Wellington Youth Orchestra. Dienes came to England in 1991 to take up the post of organ scholar at

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and Assistant Organist at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

Appointments

Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick

Dienes was appointed Director of Music St Mary's, Warwick, in 2001 where she directed and trained the choir of gentlemen and boys, the girls' choir, and Collegium, an adult concert choir based at the church. With the choirs of St Mary's she made a recording of Advent and Christmas music, ''A Spotless Rose'', on Regent Records (REG CD 236).

Guildford Cathedral

In September 2007, Dienes was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at

. She assumed the post in January 2008, taking over from Stephen Farr and becoming the first woman to hold the senior music post at a Church of England cathedral.

Compositions

Dienes has composed a number of sacred works, mainly for upper voices, as well as some secular compositions. She was commissioned to write a Mass setting commissioned by

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The cathedral ...

. Treble Clef Music Press published her music as follows: * Adam Lay I-bounden * Ave Maria * Ave Verum * Father Julius Canticles (Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis) * Magnificat "Regina coeli" with antiphon for Easter season * Silent Night (setting for choir and organ)

Discography

* A Spotless Rose, Advent to Epiphany at St Mary's, Warwick, with the choirs of St Mary's, Warwick, for Regent Records, REGCD236

Critical reception

The ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', reviewing ''Songs for Hannah'', noted "Joy and glee, of course, can be subjective. The Hannah texts are pretty severe: There's a lot of 'the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness' and 'they that strive with the Lord shall be broken in pieces.' But ienes-Williams'smusic was luminous, with insistent rhythms and an almost ancient, incantatory feel." John W. Lambert, reviewing the Guildford Cathedral Choir's visit to

Raleigh, NC Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southea ...

during its US East Coast tour, observed that Dienes-Williams "has a huge and altogether favorable reputation among church musicians." He went on to say that the reputation was "richly deserved"; she was a "highly animated director, and she elicited some of the most remarkable 'church choir' singing heard hereabouts in a long time." A

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

motet "left many members of the audience awe-struck."

References

External links

Guildford Cathedral: Katherine Dienes-Williams
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dienes, Katherine 1970 births Cathedral organists English classical organists Women organists Living people New Zealand expatriates in the United Kingdom Victoria University of Wellington alumni 21st-century English women musicians 21st-century organists