The FSMM
committee recently voted to make Joseph Hirst the
official Organ Scholar. Joseph has just turned 15 and is
a member of our choir and a very talented musician.
Much like an internship, an organ scholarship is
designed to provide young organists with practical
experience in playing, directing, and administration.
Many of the skills gained are not covered in music
college or university courses, so this experience is
crucial to the development of future church musicians.
The positions vary from institution to institution, and
at St Matthew's, it is expected that the organ scholar
will do some service playing and assist with the music
library, and in turn be supported and nurtured by the
church's organists.
Joseph had a love of music from a very early age and
began to play the piano at the age of 5, followed by the
clarinet at 8. He joined St Matthew's as a chorister in
2016 and began organ lessons early in 2017. Joseph now
sings on the back row alongside his dad Keith.
Joseph plays a big role in the extra-curricular life of
his school, Malcolm Arnold Academy, where he is involved
in various bands, ensembles and choirs. He has also been
fortunate enough to play with musicians from the
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain several times
as part of their Inspire programme. In March 2018 Joseph
had a master class with internationally renowned
organist, David Briggs - Joseph says this experience was
awesome!
Joseph now studies piano and clarinet at Birmingham
Junior Conservatoire every Saturday which he is really
enjoying.
Outside of music Joseph enjoys playing online games with
his friends and composing his own music in genres other
than classical and choral with music software and
technology.
We wish Joseph well and will follow his career with
interest. |
