I’m very pleased to have joined the team at Hampstead. For the past five years I’ve been Organist at St Bartholomew the Great in the City, working with a similar sized professional choir under the expert direction of Nigel Short, the conductor of Tenebrae. I came to St Barts straight from Trinity College Cambridge where I’d been Organ Scholar, and before that Eton College under Ralph Allwood, known to many of you from his time at Hampstead.
Church music has been an important part of my life from my days as a parish treble in rural West Sussex, and I began experimenting at the organ as soon as I could reach the pedals. This musical tradition offers so much to so many people, and it is a joy for me to have my own directorship. I have inherited adult and junior choirs in good health, and I look forward to being involved with all aspects of music making taking place in the church.
For me, the highlight of the church week is evensong, where music is given primary importance and for which much of the great English church music was conceived. The choice of music for each week will usually centre around a theme or a particular period of composition, and brief notes about the choices will be available on the website. Hampstead is a unique place to experience this great tradition, with a history rich with fine music making and one of the finest professional choirs in London.
As well as working with several other choirs, during the week I work as a pianist, giving both solo and collaborative concerts around the UK and abroad. I keep a diary on my website at www.jamessherlock.net. Plans are afoot between myself and some choir members to establish a regular song and chamber music series in the church, also incorporating advanced students from the Guildhall School of Music where I both study and coach. I’ve just taken on my first Hampstead piano pupils, and am happy to hear from other interested parties.
I look forward to meeting many of you on Sundays – do please introduce yourselves. The music is here to enhance your worship, and I’m always (well, usually) pleased to hear your thoughts!