RCO awards inaugural Honorary Medals

The Royal College of Organists has awarded the newly founded Medal of the Royal College of Organists to three distinguished musicians in recognition of their outstanding contributions to organ playing, organ and choral composition, and conducting.

The Medal of the Royal College of Organists (‘The RCO Medal’) is a new honorary award presented in recognition of either distinguished service to the College or for distinguished achievement by an individual across one or more organ- and choral-related disciplines such as performance, teaching, scholarship, composition, organ-building, conducting, administration and philanthropy.

The first three recipients, honoured at the College’s Conferment of Diplomas ceremony at Southwark Cathedral on Saturday 10th March, were:

• Dr Francis Jackson CBE (for organ playing, organ and choral composition, and choral conducting)

• Dr James MacMillan CBE (for choral composition); and

• Sir David Willcocks CBE, MC (for organ playing, choral composition and arrangement, and choral conducting).

Making the presentations, RCO President James O’Donnell said: “This is the College's highest honorary award. It is reserved to those who have shown outstanding achievement in their fields.

“Today’s honorands are among the most distinguished figures in the musical world and they greatly honour the College in accepting the Medal.”

The ceremony also saw 49 Members of the College conferred with Fellowship of the College (FRCO), Associateship of the College (ARCO), Certificate of the College (CertRCO) and the Diploma in Choral Directing (DipCHD).

The ceremony closed with the Ede & Ravenscroft Recital, in which Daniel Cook (Organist and Master of the Choristers, St Davids Cathedral), played music by Mendelssohn, Bach, Parry and RCO Medal honorands Dr James MacMillan and Dr Francis Jackson.

The vote of thanks was given, according to custom, by Freddie James FRCO, winner of the Limpus Prize in Summer 2011.

The successful examination candidates and prize winners were:

THE DIPLOMA OF FELLOWSHIP

Summer 2011
Jonathan Ayerst (Porto, Portugal)
Matthew Dunn (Manchester)
Freddie James (Cambridge)
Dr Stephen Payne (Oxford)
David Ratnanayagam (Llandenny, nr Usk)
Sebastian Thomson (Oxford)

Limpus Prize, Frederick Shinn Prize, and Durrant Prize: Freddie James
Turpin Prize and Durrant Prize: David Ratnanayagam
Harding Prize and Durrant Prize: Freddie James
Samuel Baker Prize: Freddie James
Coventry Cathedral Recital Award 2011/2012: Freddie James

Winter 2012
George Castle (Worcester)
Maxwell Kenworthy (Hove)
Cameron Luke (Cheltenham)
James Luxton (Dudley)

Hugh Fullarton (Box Hill North, Victoria, Australia) collected his FRCO diploma, which was awarded in the Winter 2011 examination session.

THE DIPLOMA OF ASSOCIATESHIP

Summer 2011
David Coram (Romsey)
Richard Dawson (Walsall)
Gregory Drott (London)
Ryan Drucker (Tonbridge)
Simon Earl (Wakefield)
Stephen Hargreaves (Liverpool)
Eleanor Kornas (Darley Dale)
Jeremy Lloyd (Oxted)
Adam Mathias (Midhurst)
Ben Morris (Basingstoke)
Alexander Pott (Watford)
Mylene Shoreman (London)
Graham Thorpe (Manchester)
Daniel Webb (Sevenoaks)
Tyrone Whiting (Croydon)
Joseph Wicks (Salisbury)

Limpus Prize, Frederick Shinn Prize, and Durrant Prize: Stephen Hargreaves
Sawyer Prize and Durrant Prize: Graham Thorpe
Lord St Audries Prize: Graham Thorpe
Sowerbutts Prize and Durrant Prize: Ben Morris
Doris Wookey Prize: Alexander Pott
Samuel Baker Prize: Ben Morris

Winter 2012
David Bannister (Oxford)
Alexander Binns (London)
John Dilworth (Dungannon)
Katrina Faranda Bellofiglio (Cambridge)
David Hardie (Altrincham)
Ben Horden (York)
Charles Hubbard (York)
Makoto James (Cambridge)
Douglas Knight (London)
Andrej Kouznetsov (London)
Sarah Lister (Oxford)
Laurence Lyndon-Jones (Chester)
Edward McCall (Melton Mowbray)
Harry Meehan (Dublin, Rep. of Ireland)
Timothy Parsons (Godalming)
James Perkins (London)
Peter Shepherd (Malvern)

Limpus Prize, Frederick Shinn Prize, and Durrant Prize: Peter Shepherd
Sawyer Prize and Durrant Prize: Timothy Parsons
Lord St Audries Prize: Peter Shepherd
Sowerbutts Prize and Durrant Prize: Timothy Parsons
Doris Wookey Prize: John Dilworth
Dr F J Read Prize: Timothy Parsons

THE CERTIFICATE

Summer 2011
Peter Shepherd (Malvern)

Winter 2012
Duncan Courts (Christchurch)
Nicky Pound (Whitnash)
William Wallace (Chichester)
Adriel Yap (Durham)

DIPLOMA IN CHORAL DIRECTING

Autumn 2011
Shaun Turnbull (Wallsend) John Brook (IAO) Memorial Prize