Alan John Thurlow (born 18 May 1947) is an English

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

. He is best known as having been Organist and Master of the Choristers of

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of th ...

between 1980 and 2008.

Education

Thurlow was educated at

Bancroft's School Bancroft's School is a co-educational private day school in Woodford Green, London. The school has around 1,100 pupils aged between 7 and 18, around 250 of whom are pupils of the Preparatory School and 850 of whom are pupils of the Senior Sch ...

Woodford Green Woodford Green is an area of Woodford, London, Woodford in East London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Buckhurst Hill to the north, Woodford Bridge to the east, South Woodford to the south, and Chingford to the we ...

. He read

Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

Sheffield University The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth College in 1879 ...

before going on to

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

, for a period of research into pre-Reformation English Church Music.

Organist career

Thurlow joined the church choir at St Barnabas' Church, Woodford Green at the age of eight and became Master of Music at the church during his time at Bancroft's School. He held his position at St Barnabas' Church until 1973.

Durham

In 1973 he was appointed Sub-Organist at

Durham Cathedral Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...

, and whilst there combined his duties at the Cathedral with those of

Director of Music A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

at the

Chorister School Durham School is a fee-charging boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located in Durham, North East England. Since 2021 it has been part of the Durham Cathedral Schools Foundation. Durham School was an all-boys ins ...

and part-time

Lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in Music at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

Chichester

In 1980 Thurlow succeeded Dr John Birch as Organist and Master of the Choristers of

. His first task was to oversee the rebuilding of the historic organ in the Cathedral, which had been abandoned as unplayable in 1972. Thurlow served as Administrator of the Committee which raised the funds for the Mander restoration that was completed in 1986. The Chichester organ is notable as being the only Cathedral organ in the country that escaped being romanticised in the nineteenth century. In the 1990s he served as a founder member of the Management Executive of the newly opened Pallant House Gallery, later continuing as a Trustee of the Friends of the Gallery. He has travelled with the Cathedral Choir and the

RSCM The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. Thurlow retired from

in 2008. He has been credited with greatly improving the quality of music at the cathedral by expanding the choir's repertoire and building its reputation on the world stage.

Activism

Thurlow has long been a vocal opponent of mixed voice treble lines in cathedral choirs. In 1997 he offered his resignation to the Dean and Chapter of Chichester Cathedral after

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...

insisted that their newly founded girls choir should sing together with the boy choristers at the 1998

Southern Cathedrals Festival The Southern Cathedrals Festival is a five-day music festival held in rotation among the English cathedrals of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury, in the penultimate week of July. The festival was restored in 1960 after initial attempts to crea ...

that was to be held in Chichester. Thurlow told a meeting of the Festival's

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

s that his position would be made untenable if he were to accept this request, as he had "made such a strong case against this for so long" and "felt in (his) heart that it was wrong". Thurlow was backed by his choir, members of the Chichester congregation and the Dean of Chichester John Treadgold. Treadgold refused his resignation and a compromise was reached with Salisbury. Since 2013 he has been Vice President of Campaign for the Traditional Cathedral Choir, the controversial

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

that was established in 1996 as a direct response to the rise of girls' choirs in the United Kingdom. For twelve years Thurlow was Chairman of the national charity,

Friends of Cathedral Music The Cathedral Music Trust, formerly the Friends of Cathedral Music (FCM), 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 Uni ...

, and for two years he served as President of the Cathedral Organists' Association. Nationally, he has served as Chairman of the Organs Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches. He is a Fellow of 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 the Royal School of Church Music, and honorary Fellow of both The Guild of Church Musicians and The Guild of Musicians and Singers, and in 2005 he received the award of a

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

Doctorate from The Archbishop of Canterbury.

Television appearance

In March 2013, Thurlow appeared in an episode of '' Who Do You Think You Are?'', in which the comedian John Bishop traced his great-great grandfather to the city of Chichester. Thurlow showed Bishop around Chichester Cathedral Library, as they discovered that Bishop's relative had been a Lay Vicar at the cathedral.

Discography

As director: *2007 - Jubilate *2007 - Let Us Lift Up Our Heart: 19th Century Church Music *1999 - Benedicite *1999 - A Christmas Festival *1997 - Sing Ye to the Lord *1996 - Chichester Commissions *1996 - Great Cathedral Anthems Vol. 7 *1994 - Malcolm Archer: Requiem *1999 - A Festival of Anthems *1991 - Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis Vol. 2 *1991 - The Welkin Rings *1990 - Choral Music of Charles V. Stanford *1984 - 19th Century Church Music by Goss, Ousely, Smart, Stainer and S.S. Wesley *1984 - Cathedral Music by Geoffrey Burgon *1982 - Carols from Chichester *1981 - Peter Davey - Head Chorister of Chichester Cathedral *1981 - O Praise God in his Holiness As organist: *1986 - The Four Pipe Organs of Chichester Cathedral *1978 - Carols from Durham Cathedral *1978 - In Quires and Places (No. 26. Durham Cathedral Choir)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurlow, Alan 1946 births Living people Academics of the Royal College of Music British music educators English classical organists Alumni of the University of Sheffield Organists & Masters of the Choristers of Chichester Cathedral People educated at Bancroft's School English cathedral organists 21st-century English organists 21st-century English male musicians English male classical organists