Notes from the Director, January 2025

WELCOME

Wherever you are across the UK or the world, we aim to support your church music-making. If you haven’t explored our Members’ Area or Events listings recently, it’s not too late to make a New Year’s resolution to engage with all that we offer. There is much to discover, both online and in person. We do this to support as many as we can – including you! Scroll down for more information on a range of topics, and as ever, do get in touch if we can be of assistance – we always enjoy hearing from current and yet-to-be members.

Hugh Morris
RSCM Director

NEW CHURCH MUSICIANS'
FEES GUIDANCE

We had a hugely positive response to our recent Fees Survey. The results, along with guidance about fees conversations, are now available as a member benefit in the Members' Area on the website. If you are not yet a member, we will shortly be circulating a summary of the survey on our website – keep an eye on the news section.

MUSIC SUNDAY
15 JUNE 2025

Music Sunday this year falls on Trinity Sunday, providing a wonderful opportunity to use music to celebrate the Trinity. Music Sunday itself offers a chance to give thanks for the gift of music and its power to enhance worship, and to acknowledge the talents, hard work and commitment of all church musicians.

How to join in

Visit the website to see all our ideas, including our top three suggestions:

Sign up to sing hymns from Ancient & Modern: Hymns and Songs for Refreshing Worship (sign-up available soon).
Sing the anthem God the Holy Trinity by Joanna Forbes L’Estrange, commissioned by the RSCM in 2019.
Organize an organ event, which could be a recital, sponsored event or another type of encounter, to link with Play the Organ Year.

Why join in

To celebrate the power of music in worship.
To join the RSCM community in a common endeavour.
To connect with your own community, drawing people to the church, for example, with a concert or organ encounter.
To raise money for the church and the RSCM.

Find out more here.

NEW PUBLICATIONS

We are proud to announce two new publications from RSCM Press, currently at the printers and due in stock within the next week or so.

Denis Bédard, Organ Works Volume 4

This collection of postludes, marches, toccatas and voluntaries is released to mark Denis’s 75th birthday (on 13 January). Featuring a variety of styles and difficulties, this collection will be a great addition to the organist’s music library. Click here to buy.

Compline by Lucy Walker

This is a complete service of Night Prayer (in traditional language) by Lucy Walker, Composer-in-Residence at St Martin-in-the-Fields, with whom this resource is a co-production. Alongside Lucy’s ethereal settings, we have included the timeless original plainchant settings, offering an alternative for choirs that may not wish to use entirely new compline material. The new music is designed to be interchangeable with the original, allowing choirs to select parts from the new composition or perform the entire new setting.

Click here to buy.

Click here to view sample pages.

To listen to a recording of the Opening Responses, performed by St Martin's Voices and conducted by Andrew Earis, click here.

To listen to 7 excerpts from the service, click here and open the 'Table of Contents' tab.

INSPIRING MUSIC IN WORSHIP
AN OFFER TO CHURCHES

Are you looking for a course to run in your church during Lent? Inspiring Music in Worship is a five-session set of guided conversations, offering an opportunity to reflect on how music is, and could be, used in your church to enhance worship and encouraging churches to make best use of the musical resources they have.

We are offering a small set of free IMIW books to up to three churches that would like to use the course over the next few months and share their experiences with us. To find out more and express interest, please email [email protected] by Friday, 7 February.

HYMNPACT!^®
NEW SUBSCRIBER OFFER

Discover Hymnpact!, an engaging resource designed to support singing and music-making in schools and churches. For a limited time, you can sign-up for a three-month subscription for just £12, giving you access to a rich collection of hymns and learning materials. Use discount code TRYHYMNPACT3 when subscribing here.

AND FINALLY...

For those of you who are in the UK, now is an ideal time to book yourself onto one of our spring/summer courses. There are residential courses for young people and adults. We will also have further news in our next edition about another new offering for 2025.

Forward Notes from the Director !

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