Evensong this Sunday 16th September will include the presentation of a welcome donation from the Friends of Cathedral Music.
The award of £20,000 will be invested by the Exeter Cathedral Music Foundation Trust to help endow the Cathedral’s organ scholarship. Introduced in 2016, the position provides accomplished organists with the opportunity to work at Exeter Cathedral and immerse themselves in the life of a busy music department.
The current Organ Scholar is Hamish Fraser, who took up his post earlier this month, having recently completed his A-levels at Eton College. He has already secured the organ scholarship at New College, Oxford, and will take up an undergraduate place to read music in 2019.
The Friends of Cathedral Music exists to support the work of the Cathedral musical tradition in the UK and overseas. As well as promoting public knowledge and appreciation, the body has given over £4 million to Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedral, church and collegiate chapel choirs since its foundation in 1956.
Exeter Cathedral Music Foundation Trust has worked with the Dean and Chapter to assist with funding music at Exeter Cathedral (and everything associated with it) for over 30 years since it was founded in 1987. It now contributes around £145,000 each year towards the total cost of the Cathedral’s music provision.