The appointment is announced of Ms Phoebe Tak Man Chow from London as the new Assistant Director of Music at Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork.  She will also play a key role in the new Diocesan Church Music Programme in the United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, which is due to begin next September.

The Dean of Cork, the Very Reverend Nigel Dunne, announcing the appointment, said

I am looking forward to welcoming Phoebe to the Cathedral’s music team in early September and I am sure she will greatly enrich the Cathedral’s rich and vibrant musical tradition and will bring much skill and experience to the new Diocesan Church Music Scheme.

Welcoming the announcement, the Bishop of Cork, Dr Paul Colton, said

This appointment, made by the Cathedral Select Vestry  in partnership with the Diocesan Council and the Diocesan Board of Education, is an innovative re-configuration of a long-standing post. The Assistant Director of Music will be key to our new Diocesan Church Music Scheme which has been devised, and which will be formally launched in the autumn.

Phoebe Tak Man Chow was born in Hong Kong and educated at Harrogate Ladies’ College, North Yorkshire, England, from 2004-2009. She first took up organ studies with Mr Adrian Selway in 2006, and subsequently served as a member in the chapel choir.

Ms. Phoebe Tak Man Chow

Due to her interest in Anglican church music and keyboard accompaniment, she read music and studied organ performance at the Royal College of Music in London where she completed a Bachelor of Music degree and a Masters of Performance degree, graduating with the Walford Davies Organ Prize.  She received regular organ tuition from professor David Graham (London), Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin (Paris), participated in masterclasses with Oliver Latry (Paris), Pieter van Dijk (Alkmaar) and many others. Besides organ studies, she has also completed harpsichord studies with Professor Robert Woolley (London), stylistic studies (composition), historical studies, advanced aural studies, keyboard accompaniment, and sang in the RCM chorus.

The RCM organ department organises annual trips abroad, enabling students to widen their perspectives on the performance of foreign church music.  In 2013 Phoebe was awarded the Flentrop Organ Scholarship to study at the Flentrop organ building company in the Netherlands where she practised pipe manufacturing, basic voicing, and tuning skills. To explore historical Dutch instruments in greater depth, she participated in summer courses held by the Prince Claus Conservatoire (Groningen) and the Haarlem International Organ Festival (Haarlem).

To date, Phoebe has held organ scholarships and assistant posts in London churches for six years, working with choral scholars and professional musicians.   She currently holds the post of Music Assistant/Chapel Organist at the Emanuel School, London, where she teaches group sessions and serves as accompanist for all occasions.

Phoebe will take up the post of Assistant Director of Music on 1^st September 2017.