Rupert Edward Elessing Jeffcoat (born 23 June 1970) is a Scottish organist, composer and Anglican priest.Rupert Jeffcoat website
Retrieved 4 February 2022.

Early life and family

Jeffcoat, whose family's roots are in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, was born and raised in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. He was a chorister at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh under

Dennis Townhill Dennis William Townhill (29 May 1925 – 18 July 2008) was an English organist and composer. Born in Lincoln, he was educated at Lincoln School and studied under Dr Gordon Archbold Slater at Lincoln Cathedral. Townhill composed a set of r ...

before attending

Glenalmond College Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. ...

as a music scholar. He later studied music at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he was also an

organ scholar An organ scholar is a young musician employed as a part-time assistant organist at a cathedral, church or institution where regular choral services are held. The idea of an organ scholarship is to provide the holder with playing, directing and adm ...

, studying under Peter Hurford, David Sanger,

Robin Holloway Robin Greville Holloway (born 19 October 1943) is an English composer, academic and writer. Early life Holloway was born in Leamington Spa. From 1953 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral and was educated at King's College School, ...

Hugh Wood Hugh Wood (27 June 1932 – 14 August 2021) was a British composer. Biography Wood was born in Parbold, Lancashire and grew up in a musical family; while still a teenager, he was encouraged by the composer Alan Bush. He says that his "earlies ...

and Alexander Goehr. Jeffcoat became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists at the age of 20. In 2001 he married Catherine Corrigan in a service at Coventry Cathedral featuring some of his own compositions,"Wedding ancient and modern", ''The Coventry Telegraph''
26 June 2001. Retrieved 4 February 2022. and has three children.

Career

Early in his career Jeffcoat held positions with the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

(premiering operas by

James MacMillan Sir James Loy MacMillan, (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor. Early life MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is James MacMi ...

and Craig Armstrong),

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...

in Yorkshire and the

Birmingham Bach Choir Birmingham Bach Choir is one of the Birmingham’s oldest musical groups, predating both the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus and the City of Birmingham Choir.Paul Spicer Paul Spicer (born August 18, 1975) is an American football coach and former defensive end who is the defensive line coach for the San Antonio Brahmas of the XFL. He played college football at Saginaw Valley State. He then played 12 seasons in ...

. He became Assistant Organist at St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham, under Marcus Huxley, in 1995 and was appointed Director of Music at Coventry Cathedral in 1997. At Coventry he led choir tours to Europe, America, South Africa, Russia and Japan. In 2005 he moved to Australia as Organist and Director of Music at St John's Cathedral, Brisbane, but left the post in 2010 following disagreements with the cathedral authorities. He was ordained to the priesthood at St John's Cathedral in 2006, having trained at The Queen's Foundation in

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...

, England. He has also been published as a

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

by Epworth Press, in a symposium entitled ''The Edge of God'' (2008). As a composer Jeffcoat has composed in numerous languages, including English, Welsh, German, Dutch, Russian, Hungarian, Czech, Arabic, Aramaic, Vietnamese and Maori, as well as the more usual liturgical languages (Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Church Slavonic). As an organist and pianist he has performed widely, recording with

Emma Kirkby Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, (; born 26 February 1949) is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings. Education and early career Kirkby was educated at Hanford School, Sherborne School for Girls in Dorse ...

(music by

Francesco Scarlatti Francesco Scarlatti (5 December 1666 – c.1741) was an Italian Baroque composer and musician and the younger brother of the better known Alessandro Scarlatti.Hair, Christopher (2003): "Francesco Scarlatti". Francesco Scarlatti: Dixit Dominus (p ...

) and giving recitals on some of the world's most prestigious organs such as those at

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...

Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool, and the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It may be referred to as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool (as recorded in th ...

, St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Queen's College in Oxford,

Sydney Town Hall The Sydney Town Hall is a late 19th-century heritage-listed town hall building in the city of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia, housing the chambers of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, council offices, and venues for meetings an ...

Caird Hall Caird Hall is a concert auditorium located in Dundee, Scotland. It is a Category A listed building. History The site currently occupied by the building was occupied by a series of closes and tenements. The foundation stone for the building was ...

in Dundee and Lambertikirche in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

. Special achievements include two Firsts in music from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, prizes from the

Royal College of Organists The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...

and a Best Entertainment award from the Royal Television Society (for a

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Early life and family

Career

Works

Compositions (selected)

Recordings

References