June 2006
Talking to Hilary Dickinson Guter	Show Menu

Organist, Pianist, Trumpeter, Teacher, Accompanist

I knew Hilary Dickinson as a schoolgirl during her years in Mount Temple School, and we both seem to remember that I taught her science for a while. It was interesting to meet up again after 20+ years. Before we commenced our ‘official' interview, I knew that she had many achievements in the musical world to her credit (I was not aware of just how many!) and I told her not to be modest in talking about them. So, here's all about what she has done to date. Editor.

Tell me about your early musical education

I was really a late starter musically; I was 9 when I started the piano. I think I had singing lessons early on too. I also learned the trumpet and was for some time principal cornet player of the Girls Brigade band. When I outgrew the Girls Brigade, I went to the Stedfast Band and was their first female member. I also learned the violin for a while but gave it up for organ when I was about 13. My ‘secret' instrument was the accordion (but I didn't dare admit to playing this when I went to TCD in the 80s - it wasn't the ‘thing' to be an accordion player!). As an accordion player I used to go around all the parish halls, also bringing a little electronic keyboard. I used to win lots of competitions because I played it very classically with the right articulation and so on. In my teens I did all the Associated Boards grades, in both piano and organ. In addition, I have teaching and performing diplomas from various London colleges.

From whom did you originally learn the organ?

One year with Sydney Greig and then Peter Sweeney. When I was 14 or maybe it was 15, I did an organ marathon in Glasnevin Church and played through the whole hymnbook to raise funds to fix the church roof. Before that I had been in the Junior Choir and Fred Flewitt let me play a hymn one Sunday (he stood behind me ready to take over just in case!

I started music in TCD 1980. At that point I was organist in the Scots Presbyterian in Abbey Street. That was my first official organ job. In ‘82 I was approached by Trinity to become Organ Scholar. You don't turn down such an offer so it was with much regret that I left the Scots' Church to become the organ scholar for two years. I followed David Adams as organ scholar.

After getting my degree in music, I taught in the College of Music for a year or so. Also, I used to assist Peter in Christ Church Cathedral before there was an official post of Assistant Organist. During that year I was trying to decide whether to go to Austria or to Holland for further study. At that point I was going to Roy Holmes for piano and doing serious piano competitions.

What prizes did you pull off in the Feis?

In organ, everything. For piano I won the duo competition and the sight-reading competition and the cup for Bach playing. I also won a gold medal in the trumpet competition. I did the piano concerto competition in the Feis one year. I won prizes too in the Father Matthew Feis.

So the big decision again: Austria or Holland. I decided on Holland, to study organ with Piet Kee. I sort of became an organist and choir director in Amsterdam by mistake! In the Summer of 1985 I was in Haarlem doing the International Organ Course and on the Sunday I went to Amsterdam to see what the Anglican Church was like. I didn't find it in the end (it's really hidden away), and I ended up by mistake in the English Reformed Church, where I learned that the post of organist/-choir director was vacant and that that day was the closing day for applications. I spoke to the Minister afterwards and expressed interest. They already had seven applications but agreed to wait until I got mine in.

I moved to Amsterdam in the September of that year and in November was appointed. It was a prestigious church for music and the expectation was high. It was quite demanding but I was glad of it, for otherwise my life there might have been quite empty.

After a year with Piet Kee, I went to Jos Van Der Kooy and did the DM - a Dutch Diploma, which I got in 1987. At this stage I had built up various musical friends in Amsterdam and we did concerts. My life was very much in Amsterdam at this stage. In my fourth year in the church in Amsterdam it was announced that a student minister - Frank Guter - was coming from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan for a year. He came along and I showed him all around Amsterdam. He lived near me and we used to bike everywhere together and we really were good friends. We worked together and we saw each other every day and it was all great fun. In April (1898) we both realised that there was more to it than being just good friends. We were married three months later.

In August of that year we went off to the States, as Frank had to go back for the final two years at the seminary. There was a choir director there who directed the ‘cream' choirs of the college - the Capella, and the Meistersingers and the Lyric Singers. They usually used student accompanists. So I ended up accompanying all these choirs. I became the seminary organist/accompanist. The spiritual element of the choir really touched me. Before every concert they would have a prayer - it made me realise that music is a gift from God. It changed my whole approach.

So, how long did you stay in the States?
Ah, well, that's another story! Frank had two more years in the seminary in Grand Rapids. Frank graduated from the Christian Reformed Church of North America (it's like the Presbyterian Church here) We went to live with his parents in Rochester New York until he got his first call - in Portland Oregon.

So you went off to the Far West?

Yes, we drove -in November; I will never forget it. It took us ten days; we experienced what was like buckets of water coming against the windscreen, and thick ice, and the car alternator died and we had to get over mountains (in Utah) with no heat in the car, and we had a broken axle too. We did finally arrive!

So, how long in Portland?

Well, it didn't really work out; it's a long story and we only stayed about nine months. Then we went to Lynden, Washington for a while where I taught and did substitution organ playing but we returned to Grand Rapids, where an interesting church job came up. They had a music group and they had an organ, and there were always ‘worship wars'. I told them I was quite happy to play with the music group, which seemed to please them enormously and this unified the church very much - one person willing to play both kinds of music. That was the beginning of what I see as my mission in the church world right now. There's so much great ‘old' stuff out there and there's also great new stuff. There's also of course bad old stuff and bad new stuff!

In 1993, Frank got a call to the American Protestant Church in The Hague in Holland. So, back across the Atlantic we went - to a huge church, though I did no music in there. I did though, do lots of teaching in The Hague. That job came to an end after a year, and we went back to Grand Rapids, where we were for another year. Then we went to Montreal for six years, where Frank was pastor of a church there. They had an organist, but he moved on after about a year and I got the post. Here I had the opportunity to work with the kids' club in the church, and I had them participating in services. In 2002 we finished in Montreal.

Frank at this stage wanted to get involved in mission work. There was a job going in Oxford England, where Frank would be Administrator and I would be kitchen manager (for catering is my second love). All the music I did here was to play at the Night Devotions. From there we went to London. I immediately went to a job in a Highgate church for a short time and then to a Methodist Church in Marylebone High Street. I also got a job with the Starbucks' Coffee Company (!), very conveniently almost next door to the Methodist Church. A great surprise one day - looked out the window and saw Peter Sweeney walking by - ran out (in my green apron, much to his astonishment) and had a chat.

And what brought you finally back to Ireland?

Frank's job in the Methodist Church came to an end; my father had died and my mother's health was not as good as it had been. So we looked at options in Dublin. The owner of a B&B in 68 Northumberland Road was looking for two people to manage his business (It's always been one of my dreams to run a B&B!). So we went home to do a new type of job. The B&B was sold after nine months and we were on the move again.

At this time there was an advert. In the Church Review for an organist for St Brigid's Stillorgan. I expressed interest, but they stalled the appointment for a time. In January 2005, we went to Adelaide Road Church to worship and found they needed a Director of Music; I got the post.

Stillorgan came up again in 2006; I applied and was appointed, for it was really what I wanted. I was sorry to leave Adelaide Road, but I knew I had made the right decision. Now that I'm in Stillorgan, I'm already in the school doing singing with the children; I bring them to the church every Friday morning. and last week they sung at the Parade Service.

And what about non-musical activities?

Well, I don't have much time for them, but certainly catering, biking and walking could be listed.

Favourite composers?

Bach and Mozart certainly. Oh, and Buxtehude too.

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