Organ Scholar

The Grand Organ of Westminster Cathedral is considered by many to be the greatest achievement and crowning glory of Henry Willis III, one of England's finest organ builders - and our Organ Scholar has privileged access to it for both performance and practice, playing a variety of services, accompanying the choir and giving recitals as part of the weekly concert series. The successful candidate will also act as registrant and assistant to the Assistant Master of Music at principal services. Westminster Cathedral Choir is acclaimed as one of the world's great choirs. The Cathedral's founder, Cardinal Vaughan, intended its liturgies to be enriched with the finest music available and for the Choir to be the 'jewel in the crown' of English Catholicism. The Choir draws its repertoire from a rich seam of music written especially for Catholic liturgy, and plainchant is the well-spring from which the Choir's musical activities flow. As Organ Scholar you will play a part in this fine tradition, directing the Lay Clerks at Vespers and Mass when required and assisting in the training of Choristers. You will also act as Choir Librarian. Additionally, the Organ Scholar will be responsible for the smooth running of the Music Department in regards to helping to prepare and distribute material for departmental activities, the administration of concert series and the organisation, and accompaniment as required, of visiting choirs. This means there's lots to get involved in - and to be excited about., The Scholarship provides a unique opportunity to learn from accomplished professional church musicians at the highest level by working closely with them on a day-to-day basis, and offers valuable experience of the rich musical heritage of the Catholic Church. Several previous holders of the Scholarship have subsequently developed successful careers in the field of church music., Actions we take to provide equality of opportunity for all candidates include:

• We anonymise application forms during our shortlisting process to ensure that candidates are assessed without any consideration of their name, gender or background.
• As part of this anonymisation, we don't take into consideration where candidates studied, or the method of that study e.g. full-time, part-time or distance learning.
• We apply a consistent approach to our question setting across our applications and interviews to ensure that everyone is assessed against the identified values, competencies and job requirements.
• Our values are important to us and as such we use a scoring framework that marks candidates based on values, behaviours and competencies.
• We provide guidance and brief all our interviewers throughout the selection processes in recruitment best-practice to mitigate against any potential for conscious or unconscious bias or discrimination.
• Whenever possible we will have multiple interviewers when assessing each candidate to ensure marking is accurate and fair.
• We ensure all our assessment venues are accessible. We offer alternative formats of our application forms to encourage applicants with disabilities or who require reasonable adjustments to perform at their best.
• We will work together with candidates with a disability or health condition to implement reasonable adjustments to enable them to feel comfortable and strive during the assessment process.
  
  The scholarship is usually awarded to post-graduates who hold at least the diploma of Associate of the Royal College of Organists (or equivalent standard), and who intend to seek a career in church music. The scholarship will be of particular interest to those who seek to further their experience of music within the Roman Catholic liturgy.
  
  "Every aspect of the beauty of the Cathedral has a key part to play, its architecture, its art and especially its music, for music rises in and enriches the soul of humanity whenever our greatest endeavours and aspirations are being contemplated and expressed.", We are the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, a faith-based charity with offices close to Victoria Train and Underground Station and just a short walk from St James Park and Westminster Underground stations.
We are home to the Archbishop of Westminster (Cardinal Vincent Nichols) & our beautiful Westminster Cathedral. We are one of the leading Catholic dioceses in the country, delivering our charitable mission through our network of 208 schools in which over 90,000 pupils attend daily, 212 parishes and several hundred social justice initiatives. We seek to positively impact the lives of all members of society., The Diocese of Westminster is an Equal Opportunities and accredited Living Wage employer. To be successful, we aspire to be person centered at all times and place human dignity at our centre. We aim at all times to recruit the person who is best suited to the job, and we welcome applications from all communities and underrepresented groups, regardless of race, sexual orientation, disability, faith, age and gender. We guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria. We strive to take a holistic approach to the development of our people so that we may better serve and empower the mission of our Church as ministered by the parishes, deaneries, schools and communities that we support. Our ambition is to work together to promote a more inclusive environment, which attracts all candidates and signals our commitment to celebrating and promoting diversity. We want people from all walks of life to feel valued for their individuality, thrive in our organisation, share a sense of belonging and demonstrate our values. With this in mind, we positively celebrate Diversity & Inclusion at the Diocese of Westminster and place it at the heart of our aim which is to reflect and connect with the diverse communities that we serve.

In return for your hard work and commitment to us, you will receive a competitive reward package which will include, but is not limited to:
• Discounts scheme through Reward Gateway - shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets gift cards and much more
• Specsavers Eye Care Voucher
• Working in one of London's most iconic landmarks, and access to the famous Henry Willis III Grand Organ.
• Access to low cost loans with Churches Mutual
• Employee assistance programme- free, independent 24/7 help and advice for work-related issues as well as problems affecting home life.