College awards Diplomas, Certificates and Medals

The Royal College of Organists has presented Diplomas and Certificates to 57 Members of the College, and awarded the Medal of the Royal College of Organists to three distinguished practitioners and scholars from the fields of organ and choral music.

The three Medal recipients honoured at the College’s Conferment of Diplomas ceremony at Southwark Cathedral on Saturday 11th March were:

• Prof. John Butt OBE, for organ playing, organ- and choral-related scholarship, and choral conducting
• Dr Peter Hurford OBE, for organ playing, choral conducting, organ teaching, organ and choral composition, and organ-related administration
• Mr Mark Venning, for organ building, organ-related scholarship, and organ-related administration.

Making the presentations, RCO President-Elect Catherine Ennis said: “We are delighted to welcome today Professor John Butt, Mr Mark Venning and Mrs Pat Hurford, on behalf of her husband Peter, and offer them our warmest congratulations on the award of the RCO Medal.

“The Medal is the College’s highest award, and in accepting it they honour the College."

Ms Ennis also conferred the 57 Members of the College with Fellowship of the College (FRCO), Associateship of the College (ARCO), the Diploma in Choral Directing (DipCHD), and presented the Certificate (CertRCO).

The ceremony closed with the Ede & Ravenscroft Recital, in which Henry Fairs, Head of Organ Studies at Birmingham Conservatoire and Organist to the University of Birmingham, played music by J S Bach, Jehan Alain, Olivier Messiaen and RCO Medal honorand Peter Hurford.

The vote of thanks was given, according to custom, by Richard Gowers FRCO, winner of the Limpus Prize in Summer 2012.

The successful examination candidates and prize winners were:

THE DIPLOMA OF FELLOWSHIP

Summer 2012
Dr Martin Clarke (Durham)
Richard Gowers (Cambridge)
Oliver Hancock (Ely)
Donald Hunt (Southwell)
Jemima Stephenson (Sheffield)
David Thornton (Ashton in Makerfield)
Ian Tindale (Watlington)

Limpus Prize, Frederick Shinn Prize, and Durrant Prize: Richard Gowers
Turpin Prize and Durrant Prize: Jemima Stephenson

Winter 2013
Jeremy Cole (Cambridge)
Stephen Hargreaves (Liverpool)
Oliver Lallemant (London)
Ben Morris (Basingstoke)
Timothy Parsons (Godalming)
Michael Strange (South Croydon)

Limpus Prize, Frederick Shinn Prize, and Durrant Prize: Stephen Hargreaves
Turpin Prize and Durrant Prize: Ben Morris
Dixon Prize: Stephen Hargreaves
Harding Prize and Durrant Prize: Ben Morris
Dr F J Read Prize: Ben Morris
Coventry Cathedral Recital Award 2012/2013: Stephen Hargreaves

THE DIPLOMA IN CHORAL DIRECTING

Autumn 2012
Marc Murray (Boston)
Richard Walmsley (Perth)

THE DIPLOMA OF ASSOCIATESHIP

Summer 2012
Maksymilian Adach (Worcester Park)
Alex Aitken (Milton Keynes)
Steven McIntyre (Grangemouth)
Nicholas Morris (Cambridge)
Ian Richardson (Fareham)
Joachim Schwander (Sherborne)
Albert Cano Smit (Stockport)
Ben Smith (Bolton)
Joe Waggott (Birmingham)
Richard Walmsley (Perth)
Henry Websdale (Ilkley)
Dr Tim Williams (Grantham)
David Winters (Epping)
Geoffrey Woollatt (Grantham)
Andrew Wyatt (Canterbury)

Limpus Prize, Frederick Shinn Prize, and Durrant Prize: Henry Websdale
Sawyer Prize and Durrant Prize: Maksymilian Adach and Joe Waggott
Lord St Audries Prize: Henry Websdale
Sowerbutts Prize and Durrant Prize: Joe Waggott and Dr Tim Williams
Doris Wookey Prize: Maksymilian Adach
Samuel Baker Prize: Joe Waggott

Winter 2013
Robert Baigent (Oxford)
Duncan Barlow (Norwich)
Olivia Clarke (London)
Andrew Elliott (Lymington)
Tom Etheridge (Cambridge)
Nicholas Freestone (Oxford)
Riccardo Gnudi (Pisa, Italy)
Alex Goodwin (Ascot)
Joshua Hales (Wigan)
Simon Hunt (Singapore)
Solomon Lau (Oxford)
Marion Lees-McPherson (Edinburgh)
Geoffrey Redman (Worthing)
Robert Smith (Oxford)
Jonathan Stamp (New Ollerton)
Roxanne Summerfield (Leicester)
Benedict Todd (Chepstow)
Dominic Wong (Cambridge)

Limpus Prize, Frederick Shinn Prize, and Durrant Prize: Tom Etheridge
Sawyer Prize and Durrant Prize: Joshua Hales
Lord St Audries Prize: Tom Etheridge
Sowerbutts Prize and Durrant Prize: Robert Smith
Doris Wookey Prize: Tom Etheridge
Dr F J Read Prize: Tom Etheridge

THE CERTIFICATE

Summer 2012
John Radford (Wimborne)
Michael Rudd (Lichfield)

Winter 2013
Andrew Burrows (Kilkenny, Eire)
Rosemary Knight (St Albans)
Sheila McCallum (Bearsden)
Roger Pearce (Stockport)
Marion Peutherer (Newcastle upon Tyne)
David Pimm (Surbiton)
Steven Smith (Abbots Langley)

Photographs of the ceremony will appear later in the week in both the blog and the RCO Member's online photo library.