The Friends of Cathedral Music 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

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. To this end, it makes grants and distributes a number of publications.

History

The Friends of Cathedral Music was founded in 1956 by the Revd. Ronald Sibthorpe at a meeting at St Bride's Church

St Bride's Church

St Bride's Church is a church in the City of London, England. The building's most recent incarnation was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672 on Fleet Street in the City of London, though Wren's original building was largely gutted by fire during the London Blitz in 1940. Due to its location on...

 Fleet Street. It was prompted by a decision of the Provost of Southwell at Southwell Minster

Southwell Minster

Southwell Minster is a minster and cathedral, in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. It is six miles away from Newark-on-Trent and thirteen miles from Mansfield. It is the seat of the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham and the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham.It is considered an outstanding...

 to abolish the Saturday choral evensong so that the lay clerks could watch the weekly football at Newark-on-Trent

Newark-on-Trent

Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...

. There was also a similar incident at Truro Cathedral

Truro Cathedral

The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Truro is an Anglican cathedral located in the city of Truro, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. It was built in the Gothic Revival architectural style fashionable during much of the nineteenth century, and is one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom...

.

Sibthorp, in an effort to reverse the decline in interest in cathedral music after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, sought to create a promoting organization the Cathedral Music Advisory Committee. However the committee failed to get off the ground, so he tried a new tack and sent a letter on June 2, 1956, that would jump start a new cathedral music organization, the The Friends of Cathedral Music. Until 1962 FCM would only meet once a year but because of the interest shown in FCM and due in a large part to the charismatic figure of Anthony (‘Tony’) Harvey the regular tour of the UK as is known in the present day was started.

Aims

The Friends of Cathedral Music makes grants to choirs as endowments in support of chorister scholarships, or the purchase of capital equipment such as rehearsal pianos. The aims as spelt out in 1958 were to:

1. Widening public interest in cathedral services
2. Supporting and encouraging cathedral chapters
3. Restoring the pre-war levels of cathedral services
4. Expanding to churches where there is no choir.

Publications

The Friends of Cathedral Music publishes:

• Cathedral Music - a twice yearly magazine covering a wide range of subjects relevant to the objectives of the charity.
• Singing in Cathedrals - a directory of choral services in choral foundations in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
• Cathedral Voice - a twice yearly newsletter.

List of presidents

Glasgow Herald

• Martin Shaw
  Martin Shaw (composer)
  Martin Edward Fallas Shaw OBE, FRCM, DMus was an English composer, conductor and theatre producer...
  
   1956 - 1958
• Herbert Howells
  Herbert Howells
  Herbert Norman Howells CH was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music.-Life:...
  
   1958 - 1983
• George Guest
  George Guest
  George Guest was a Welsh organist and choral conductor.- Birth and early life :George Guest was born in Bangor, Wales. His father was an organist, and George assisted him by acting as organ blower. He became a chorister at Bangor Cathedral, and subsequently at Chester Cathedral, where he...
  
   1983 - 2002
• Christopher Robinson
  Christopher Robinson (musician)
  Christopher John Robinson CVO CBE is a British conductor and organist. After being organ scholar at Christ Church, Oxford he worked as Organist and Master of the Choristers at Worcester Cathedral. In 1974 he became Organist and Choirmaster at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle a position he held...
  
   2004 -

List of chairmen

• Ronald Sibthorpe 1956 - 1971
• Christopher Hugh Dearnley
  Christopher Hugh Dearnley
  Christopher Hugh Dearnley was an English cathedral organist, who served in Salisbury Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral-Background:Christopher Hugh Dearnley was born on 11 February 1930 in Wolverhampton...
  
   1971 - 1990
• Alan Thurlow
  Alan Thurlow
  Alan Thurlow is an organist born in Essex, England.Thurlow was educated at Bancroft's School, Woodford Green. He read Music at Sheffield University before going on to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, for a period of research into pre-Reformation English Church Music.-Durham Cathedral:In 1973 he was...
  
  1990 - 2002
• Professor Peter Toyne 2002 -