Do you want a laugh?

[PhloridaPhil]

St Marie's Cathedral, Sheffield has just advertised the post of Organist/Choir Master.
Apply to office@stmariecathedral.org for details

[alan29]

I guess it will on a voluntary basis.

[PhloridaPhil]

No they are paying about 6k

[PhloridaPhil]

No they are paying about 6k
Almost voluntary!

[Southern Comfort]

For those having difficulty finding the ad on the cathedral's website (some sections have not been updated for some considerable time), go to https://stmariecathedral.org/wp-content ... nnum-C.pdf and scroll down to page 4. No salary is mentioned in the ad.

[markyboy2000]

As stipends go £6k sounds pretty good, considering the workload. Most of us get nowt, except for funerals/weddings.

[JW]

Is this the same cathedral that had to make it's Director of Music redundant a a few years ago because of financial difficulty? If so, where is the funding coming from and how can a new incumbent be certain that this will continue into the future?

[PhloridaPhil]

There is a guy who has held fast to the organist post there for decades. He’s retiring from his post which was unpaid since the financial debacle which led to the post of director of music of diocese and cathedral being declared redundant at Easter 2014. The post is only for 2 years, I understand, and there is quite a heavy expectation that what they need can be achieved in a limited number of hours.

[Nick Baty]

So it's £6,200 for 280 hours (cathedral) per annum plus 30 hours (diocesan events).
Seems to be mostly about the 10.30am Mass which is a shame as the cathedral has five Masses over the weekend and one would expect someone to have some sort of oversight of the whole.
Interesting bit of the job description is that the successful candidate will "lead congregational singing and accompany the Cathedral choir". If there's no other organist, this might be a tad tricky!
Job description attached.

[Southern Comfort]

So it's £6,200 for 280 hours (cathedral) per annum plus 30 hours (diocesan events).

So that's about 57% of the going rate in this part of the world.

[JW]

A look at the Organist posts vacant on the 'Organists Online' site suggests that £6k isn't unreasonable compared with the market in general.

It takes a lot of study and work to get to the level required to take on these roles and it must be really frustrating that financial rewards are so meagre. Many directors of music earn their main income from teaching, but being a good musician doesn't mean you are a good teacher. Teaching music in some secondary schools can be quite stressful and can be a poor employment option for a musician. By the way, few youngsters want organ lessons nowadays and there's a need for chaperoning to safeguard both the young person and the teacher, given recent events.

Probably the best organist in England around 1800 was Samuel Wesley, father of Samuel Sebastian. He was unable to hold down any sort of job and was often reduced to doing music copying: his mate Vincent Novello used to help him out with this. So this isn't a new issue.

The really great musicians go on to form ensembles, conduct orchestras, play the concert circuit, become Oxbridge dons, etc. However, these roles are only available to an elite few.

On the other hand, many of us are able to run the Sunday music in our churches voluntarily. This is fortunate for the Church as the alternative would be to have no music. I am appalled though at the sniping that both volunteers and paid musicians have to endure. Musicians aren't always supported by their priests, which is another problem. Even in this forum there has been recent adverse comment about the quality of a commissioned hymn. Of course there will always be problems, but these should be handled with a large degree of respect.

It's not just musicians. Many other church workers seem to be overworked and underpaid, with their employers relying heavily on their employees' goodwill.

Catholic Social Teaching is clear that employees merit a living wage and good conditions of employment. Perhaps it is time for the Bishops Conference to review employment practices in local parishes to ensure that they conform!

[PhloridaPhil]

I eat my words! St Marie's Cathedral in Sheffield appointed Robert Webb as organist/choirmaster for a period of 2 years. I knew him as a consumate and very popular musician. I append a biog from his website.

Robert is a Sheffield based free-lance musician: Conductor, accompanist, arranger, composer and teacher. Oh, and of course, one third of Crimes Against Taste

Robert Webb was born in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, and became involved in music when he joined the church choir and began piano lessons aged seven. When he was old enough he started to learn the organ as well.

He studied law at Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he continued his musical interests with a choral scholarship. Whilst an undergraduate he also became assistant organist at the University Church in Cambridge. His music making continued when he went to Chester Law College, singing daily services in Cathedral there as a lay-clerk and conducting the College of Law Choir.

Robert returned to Cambridge to work as a solicitor during which time he was also organist at Trumpington Church, and conducted several choirs. In 1996 he decided music was a greater calling and left the law to become a full time musician, moving to Oxford and, for a time working as a motorcycle courier to fulfil a teenage dream. Whilst there he was organist for a time at the Church of St Mary and St John, Cowley Road, then moved to Wallingford to take up the post of Director of Music at St Mary-le-More and St Leonard’s there. In 2000 he became director of the Cathedral Singers in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Whilst in Oxfordshire he also directed Lord Williams Festival Chorus in Thame, and Didcot and Henley Choral Societies.

In 2003, Robert returned to his native Yorkshire to take up the post of Director of Music at St John’s Church, Ranmoor, Sheffield, a post which he held until August 2010.

Robert is now conductor of the Sheffield Chamber Choir, the Sheffield Sterndale Singers, and Bel Canto Choir, Musical Director of Sheffield City Opera, and accompanist to the Sheffield University Singers’ Society. He teaches singing at Broomhill Infant School, and Phillimore Primary School, and is a member of staff at Hill House School, Doncaster, teaching piano, singing and is one of their principal accompanists. He also has an active private teaching practice.

[quaeritor]

Robert is now conductor of the Sheffield Chamber Choir, the Sheffield Sterndale Singers, and Bel Canto Choir, Musical Director of Sheffield City Opera, and accompanist to the Sheffield University Singers’ Society. He teaches singing at Broomhill Infant School, and Phillimore Primary School, and is a member of staff at Hill House School, Doncaster, teaching piano, singing and is one of their principal accompanists. He also has an active private teaching practice.

How does he manage to while away all those hours of spare time?

Q