Sheffield Cathedral Junior Organ Scholarships

Sheffield Cathedral Junior Organ Scholarships

Report for 2023-24

Our Junior Organ Scholars have been making excellent progress this past year. The two scholarships, a new venture from the Cathedral’s renewed music department, are designed to help raise a new generation of organists in Sheffield, providing them with high-level experience in a Cathedral setting. Across this past year we have been delighted to welcome our first two scholars, James Caroe in January and Chiara Nel in February, and it has been a pleasure watching them progress.

James came to us having already had substantial organ experience, being one of the organ scholars at St Mark’s, Broomhill; he was also previously a chorister at the Cathedral and sings with the Steel City Choristers so had a strong knowledge of the Cathedral tradition. We were therefore able to get him not only playing for services when the Director of Music was away, but also accompanying the Cathedral Choir. A particular highlight was his very first psalm accompaniment (a fundamental yet complex skill for a Cathedral organist) where he accompanied both the Cathedral Choir and Steel City Choristers for a joint evensong at the Cathedral. James is a quick learner and has diligently picked up what we have taught him across this past year.

Chiara, by contrast, had almost no prior experience of the organ or of Cathedral music more generally. The Junior Scholarships are aimed not just at established organists but also pianists wishing to learn the organ or those who want to get involved with the Anglican choral tradition. Chiara has therefore had a steeper learning curve than James but has handled the challenges with grace and resilience, with her confidence having increased noticeably across the past year. She too has played at services at the Cathedral and both her improvisation and voluntaries are developing by leaps and bounds. Both scholars also participated in the inaugural South Yorkshire Organ Festival in June, giving them the chance to learn outisde the Cathedral at the fine organ of Upper Chapel in Sheffield.

Looking ahead to the coming academic year, we are delighted that Chiara will be continue with us as a Junior Scholar. James has decided to focus on his A-Levels so sadly has decided not to renew his scholarship for 2024-25. However, he will still play at the Mary Parson’s Service on 27th December and we are very grateful for all he has contributed this past year. In his place, we are delighted to have appointed Freddie Wright as the new Junior Organ Scholar; Freddie is a pianist studying at Sheffield Music Academy who shows a great amount of potential as an organist, so we are thrilled to have him as our new scholar and look forward to mentoring him across the next year.

We are very grateful to the Assay Office for generously supporting these scholarships. With the Office’s support, we can offer these scholarships to any young person regardless of background or financial situation. We would like to thank Ashley Carson in particular for helping launch this initiative and we hope that our partnership will continue for years to come.

James Mitchell
Cathedral Organist and Director of Keyboard Studies

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