Philip Cave is an accomplished soloist and leader of choral workshops and currently serves as organist and director of music at Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill in Alexandria, Virginia.  He was a founding member of the Tallis Scholars and Philip is founder and conductor of the vocal ensemble Magnificat, which specializes in the restoration and performance of neglected masterworks of the baroque and renaissance periods. Active as a vocal and choral clinician and teacher, Philip has led many master-classes and workshops in the UK and USA. He is a recipient of the Byrne award for performances of the music of Handel, he is also an honorary Fellow of the Academy of St Cecilia, and of the Australian Society for Composition and Musicology. He is the founder and director of the ensemble ORPHEUS, which is a joint Anglo-American early music consort based in Washington, DC, and of CHORWORKS, whose summer schools and workshops bring together distinguished faculty and enthusiastic participants to increase the knowledge of early choral repertoire and performing techniques.

The search for a new organist and director of music for All Souls began last fall.  Following carefully the guidelines of the American Guild of Organists and the Association of Anglican Musicians, the All Souls search committee reviewed dozens of qualified applicants.  The search committee narrowed the search to four finalists, each of whom was invited to audition and interview.  The audition consisted of an organ portion and a choral portion.  Each candidate played a prepared piece on the organ, played a hymn chosen by the committee and played an improvisation on a hymn.  For the choral portion, each candidate rehearsed the choir (made up of our volunteer choir plus four professional singers) in an anthem by Handel, an Anglican chant Psalm, and a "new piece for the choir," a piece that the candidate would introduce and teach.  The third portion consisted of an interview with the search committee.

Philip will be with us on Pentecost, Sunday, May 11, 2008.

More about Philip Cave can be found at his website at www.philipcave.net