Kerry Jason Beaumont (born 5 April 1957) is a British organist and choir director.

Early life and training

Born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Beaumont later emigrated to Canada with his family. He earned his undergraduate degree from the

Curtis Institute The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and also has a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from

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 ...

Career

Beaumont was Director of Music at the Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States, for seven years (1981-1988) before returning to the United Kingdom. He then served as Organist and Master of the Choristers at

St Davids Cathedral St Davids Cathedral () is a Church in Wales cathedral situated in St Davids, Britain's smallest city, in the county of Pembrokeshire, near the most westerly point of Wales. Early history Monastery of Saint David, Wales, A monastic community was ...

in Wales from 1990 to 1994 and at

Ripon Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, ...

in England from 1994 to 2002 before being appointed Director of Music at

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midla ...

, a position he held from 2006 to 2020. Upon his retirement from Coventry he was made Organist Emeritus of the Cathedral, and the following year he was awarded the

Cranmer Award for Worship The Lambeth Awards are awarded by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In addition to the Lambeth degrees, there are a number of non-academic awards. Before 2016, these awards consisted of the Lambeth Cross, the Canterbury Cross, and the Cross of St Augus ...

by the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

for his "outstanding service to music and worship ..., with particular reference at Coventry to outreach, recruitment and nurture of boy and girl choristers to create a cathedral choir with diversity at its heart". In 2021 he was appointed Director of Music at

Holy Trinity Church Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

Recordings and concert performances

Beaumont's recordings as an organist and

choirmaster A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

are published by

Priory Records Priory Records is a record company in the UK founded in 1980, and devoted mostly to church music and organ music. Important projects have included the complete Psalms sung by cathedral choirs to Anglican chant, all of the Magnificat and Nunc dim ...

, Herald AV Productions and Cantoris Records. As a member of

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 175,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

(the Society of Canadian Composers, Authors and Publishers) he has published several hundred recorded compositions through the programme music libraries of Omnimusic and the Parry Music Library. Of his church music there are published titles by Encore Publications and Banks Music Publications.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaumont, Kerry 1957 births Living people British cathedral organists British classical organists People from Paoli, Pennsylvania 21st-century British organists 21st-century British male musicians British male classical organists Curtis Institute of Music alumni Alumni of Durham University