Colin Mawby

Colin spent three years at the RCM studying with Gordon Jacob. During this time he also learnt a lot studying outside the College with Adrian Boult and working with Malcolm Sargent After this he became first Assistant, and then Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral. In his years there he brought the Cathedral Choir to new prominence, with many appearances on the BBC as well as commercial recordings. The Choir was renowned for its clear - instantly recognisable - sound, and thrilling performance.

Wishing to broaden his repertoire, Colin Mawby moved to Ireland to be Choral Director at Radio Telefis Eireann (RTE). He was later appointed Artistic Director of Ireland's National Chamber Choir, and is now their Artistic Director Emeritus.

He has worked with many other music groups, notably the London Mozart Players, the Wren Orchestra, Pro Cantione Antiqua, the Belgian Radio Choir and the BBC Singers, and has performed before the Queen of England at St.Paul's Cathedral, President John F. Kennedy at Westminster Cathedral, and no less than two Popes at St.Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Colin Mawby has written extensively for choirs, often providing music for special occasions or at short notice. His Haec dies, for example, was written and rehearsed on a train journey across Europe, prior to its prizewinning perfomance in Italy! He has written twenty-four masses, five song cycles, a very large number of settings for choir, two children's operas and a children's Christmas cantata.

A good few of these pieces started life as commissions, from Westminster Cathedral in London, Liverpool Cathedral, RTE Ireland, The Royal School of Church Music in England, The Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, USA, and Grace Church, New York, among others. His famous Alleluia which is sung all over the world was commissioned by the European Federation of Pueri Cantores.

Just recently Colin wrote a piece for the Requiem of Cardinal Basil Hume of Westminster, and a Fanfare for the opening of the Helix Concert Hall at Dublin City University. And he won Top Honors in the 2002 Waging Peace Through Singing competition in Oregon, USA for his Prayer of Forgiveness.

Colin Mawby has also worked with the written and spoken word - on BBC Radio 3, for Hans Keller and Basil Lam, and the UK-based newspapers and journals The Guardian, The Times, The Tablet, and The Listener.

An entire chapter of the important British Organ Music of the Twentieth Century: The Composers, Their Music, and Musical Style by Peter Hardwick is devoted to Colin's organ music.

His music is published by Kevin Mayhew, Oregon Catholic Press, Carus-Verlag, the Gregorian Institute of America, EurArte, the Royal School of Church Music, Edizioni Carrara, Faber Music, Chappell, and Edition Ferrimontana. CDs of his music have been released by Warner Classics, EMI, Teldec, Hyperion, Oregon Catholic Press, Black Box, and Kevin Mayhew.

Colin Mawby's Ave Maria was recently recorded by The Celtic Tenors on their CD So Strong; his Ave verum can be found on the Teldec CD Ave Maria alongside Placido Domingo, Sarah Brightman, Herbert von Karajan, Jose Carreras and Leonard Bernstein; and Psalm 23 has become enormously popular since it was chosen by Charlotte Church for her bestselling CD Voice of an Angel.

To hear some of Colin Mawby's music, you'll find his Modern Medieval Carol and other Christmas Carols here at Oregon Catholic Press, and Alleluia, Christus resurrexit at www.Musicanet.Org where it was chosen as Musica International's Favourite Piece of the Month for November 2002.

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