Sarah MacDonald (musician)
Encyclopedia
Sarah MacDonald is a Canadian-born organist and conductor, living in the UK, and is currently Director of Music at Selwyn College
, Cambridge, and Director of Ely Cathedral
Girls' Choir. Sarah came to the UK from Canada in 1992 as OrganScholar of Robinson College, Cambridge, after studying at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto with Leon Fleisher, Marek Jablonski, and John Tuttle. At Cambridge she studied the organ with David Sanger.
She has been at Selwyn since 1999, and is the first woman to hold such a post in an Oxbridge Chapel. Sarah has played numerous recitals and made over 25 recordings, variously in the guises of pianist, organist, conductor, and producer; she is a winner of the Royal College of Organists (RCO) Limpus Prize. Sarah has taught organ and conducting for Eton Choral Courses,
Oundle for Organists, the Jennifer Bate Organ Academy, and courses run by the RCO, and she is a regular Director of the annual Girls' Chorister Course at St Thomas' Church Fifth Avenue, in New York City. She also writes a monthly column (UK Report) for The American Organist magazine. Sarah is a Fellow, Examiner, and Trustee of the RCO, and is a member of the Academic Board.
2010 - Regent Records (in production): Milles Regretz: music for lutes and voices (members of the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2010 - Regent Records: God be in my head: Choral music by Paul Edwards (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2009 - Regent Records: Come out, Lazar: the Shorter Choral works of Paul Spicer (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2009 - Choir & Organ: A lover’s complaint: New music for choir and organ (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge) (cover CD for March/April 2009 issue of Choir & Organ)
2008 - Regent Records: A Candle to the Glorious Sun: Music by Martin Peerson & John Milton Senior (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2008 - Regent Records: Sing reign of fair maid: Music for Christmas and the New Year (Ely Cathedral Girls’ Choir)
2007 - Priory Records: Master-Pieces from Selwyn College, Cambridge (music selected for Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge by Masters of the College)
2006 - Kevin Mayhew: Christus vincit: Music by Colin Mawby to celebrate his 70th birthday (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2006 - Priory Records: Songs of Welcome: Music for Women’s Voices (Newnham College Chamber Choir, Cambridge)
2005 - URM Audio: The Moon of Wintertime: Carols from around the world (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2004 - Priory Records: One day in thy courts: Settings of the Psalms (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2003 - Priory Records: Complete New English Hymnal Vol. XIV (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2000 - Herald AV Productions: Herbert Howells: Evening Canticles (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
Selwyn College, Cambridge
Selwyn College is a constituent college in the University of Cambridge in England, United Kingdom.The college was founded by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of the Rt Reverend George Selwyn , who rowed on the Cambridge crew in the first Varsity Boat Race in 1829, and went on to become the...
, Cambridge, and Director of Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...
Girls' Choir. Sarah came to the UK from Canada in 1992 as OrganScholar of Robinson College, Cambridge, after studying at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto with Leon Fleisher, Marek Jablonski, and John Tuttle. At Cambridge she studied the organ with David Sanger.
She has been at Selwyn since 1999, and is the first woman to hold such a post in an Oxbridge Chapel. Sarah has played numerous recitals and made over 25 recordings, variously in the guises of pianist, organist, conductor, and producer; she is a winner of the Royal College of Organists (RCO) Limpus Prize. Sarah has taught organ and conducting for Eton Choral Courses,
Oundle for Organists, the Jennifer Bate Organ Academy, and courses run by the RCO, and she is a regular Director of the annual Girls' Chorister Course at St Thomas' Church Fifth Avenue, in New York City. She also writes a monthly column (UK Report) for The American Organist magazine. Sarah is a Fellow, Examiner, and Trustee of the RCO, and is a member of the Academic Board.
Selected Discography
2011 - Regent Records (in production): Choral Music by Gary Higginson (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge and Ely Cathedral Girls’ Choir)2010 - Regent Records (in production): Milles Regretz: music for lutes and voices (members of the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2010 - Regent Records: God be in my head: Choral music by Paul Edwards (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2009 - Regent Records: Come out, Lazar: the Shorter Choral works of Paul Spicer (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2009 - Choir & Organ: A lover’s complaint: New music for choir and organ (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge) (cover CD for March/April 2009 issue of Choir & Organ)
2008 - Regent Records: A Candle to the Glorious Sun: Music by Martin Peerson & John Milton Senior (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2008 - Regent Records: Sing reign of fair maid: Music for Christmas and the New Year (Ely Cathedral Girls’ Choir)
2007 - Priory Records: Master-Pieces from Selwyn College, Cambridge (music selected for Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge by Masters of the College)
2006 - Kevin Mayhew: Christus vincit: Music by Colin Mawby to celebrate his 70th birthday (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2006 - Priory Records: Songs of Welcome: Music for Women’s Voices (Newnham College Chamber Choir, Cambridge)
2005 - URM Audio: The Moon of Wintertime: Carols from around the world (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2004 - Priory Records: One day in thy courts: Settings of the Psalms (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2003 - Priory Records: Complete New English Hymnal Vol. XIV (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)
2000 - Herald AV Productions: Herbert Howells: Evening Canticles (Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge)