ALAN THURLOW

Alan Thurlow was born in Essex and read music at Sheffield University before going to Emmanuel College, Cambridge for a period of research into pre-reformation English Church musc. In 1973 he was appointed Sub-Organist at Durham Cathedral, serving first under Dr Conrad Eden and later under Richard Lloyd and combining his Cathedral duties with those of Director of Music at the Chorister School and part-time Lecturer in Music at Durham University. In 1980 he was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Chichester Cathedral, in succession to John Birch. During his time at Chichester, he has been responsible for the restoration of the Cathedral’s historic organ. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Friends of Pallant House Gallery, an Organ Adviser for the Diocese of Chichester and an area representative for the Royal School of Church Music. He has travelled with the Cathedral Choir and the RSCM to France, Holland, Germany, South Africa and the United States, and was recently appointed Chairman of the Organs Advisory Committee of the Council for the Care of Churches. In 1995 and 1996 he served as President of the Cathedral Organists’ Association. In 2005, the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred a Lambeth Doctorate of Music on Alan Thurlow, in recognition of his services to the world of church music, especially in Chichester Cathedral.