Training : current opportunities

 Living Worship Course

Each January the Diocesan Church Music Committee runs a short course in music, liturgy and worship. The course is held on four Saturday mornings and aims to show how the role of the musician and music supports, complements and generally interacts with liturgy and theology.

Musicians, clergy, worship planners, lay leaders or members of congregations all benefit from the course. Practical music skills are not required to take part.

The course is very popular. All the students working for the Archishop's Certificate in Church Music attend, and the course is open to anyone else interested.  Some people enjoy the event so much that they quickly enrol for the following year.

The 2010 Course was held from 10 to 1 on Saturday mornings during January-February at Mageough House, Cowper Road, Rathmines. 

The course leaders were the Revd Edgar Swann; Mark Duley, choir director, organist and conductor; John Bell of the Iona Community and Wild Goose Worship Group; and the Revd Peter Moger, the Church of England's worship development officer.

Living Worship 2011 will be held on 15, 22 & 29 January and 5 February 2011.  Speakers already confirmed are Bishop Michael Burrows  and Ian Gallagher & Hilary Guter (priest and musician of Stillorgan parish). More information will be posted here in due course. 

Midlands Organ Classes

A series of classes in organ-playing will be held in Birr, starting on Tuesday 29 June 2010. The cost of the classes is being supported by the Julia Trench Trust and the tutor for the six sessions will be Colin Nichols, formerly organist and choir director at St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork and lecturer in the Cork School of Music.

There will be six sessions:  on 29 & 30 June and 1 July;  and on 25, 26 & 27 August.

Information from Michael Hanna, The Old Rectory, Blacklion, Blueball, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

(087) 832 6113  and michael.hanna@gmail.com 

Choir Training Course for Church Musicians 2008

A five-module course in choir training and conducting was held during September and October 2008. It was led by -

John Dexter, Music Director of Goethe Institut Choir
Mark Duley, Chorus Director of the RTE Philharmonic Choir
Nigel McClintock, Director of Music, St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast

Course content: The musician's job in today's church; choir administration and housekeeping; conducting and how to encourage small groups and assemblies to sing; choir training. You may read further details of this very successful course here.

The Royal School of Church Music

The RSCM offers a wide range of training opportunities at locations throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

For information go to www.rscmireland.org.

International Summer School in Canterbury, August 2008 

Four church music students and four other people from the Dublin area attended the third RSCM International Summer School and Conference, held this year in the historic city of Canterbury, from Monday 11th to Sunday 17th August, following closely on the heels of the Lambeth Conference.

The students write about their impressions of the Summer School in the October 2008 issue of Soundboard.

Cumann Náisiúnta na gCór / The Irish Association of Choirs

Cumann Náisiúnta na gCór, Cork organises courses in conducting and choir direction at various venues.

For information go to  www.cnc.ie

or contact info@cnc.ie 

Promoters of courses of relevance to church musicians are invited to send information for display on this website.