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Paul Hayward (b, 1984) is an exciting and versatile musician, specialising in choral music as an organist, conductor and composer. A former assistant cathedral organist, he now lives and works in the East Midlands as a freelance musician. Paul is a part-time distance learning PhD student at the University of Aberdeen, studying choral composition with Professor Paul Mealor, having been awarded a university Carlaw-Ogston scholarship. He also has been gained a number of other qualifications, including a Master of Music degree in composition from the University of Aberdeen, the rarely-awarded Fellowship of the Guild of Church Musicians by examination, and other diplomas in conducting, organ performance and composition.
As a choral director and conductor, Paul has worked with choirs of all abilities and sizes, and currently directs the Ruddington and District Choral Society and the Coalville Male Voice Choir (as interim MD). Previous choral affiliations include the Chesterfield Bach Choir, the Brecon Singers and the Cranmer Company of Singers. Recent concerts conducted have included Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and Haydn’s Nelson Mass. Paul is also experienced in leading choral days and ‘come and sing’ events on works such Faure’s Requiem and Mozart’s Coronation Mass, and he leads a 2-yearly ‘come and sing Messiah’ evening with RDCS. He trained on the Association of British Choral Directors’ course for advanced conductors, receiving the award of LRSM in choral conducting. |
Paul was the inaugural holder of the assistant organist position between Brecon Cathedral and Christ College, Brecon, as well as teaching piano and music theory at Christ College. This followed from being the assistant director of music and conductor of the cathedral youth choir at St Barnabas Roman Catholic Cathedral, Nottingham. These roles included a variety of duties, including being the principal accompanist for choirs, teaching probationer choristers, playing for services, concerts, broadcasts, tours and a royal visit. Paul has been a frequent recitalist at cathedrals and churches around the UK, and his teachers have included Colin Walsh and David Briggs. As an academic and organist, his principal interests are in the field of British music, roughly between 1500 and 1700, between John Taverner and Henry Purcell. As a chamber musician, Paul has played harpsichord and organ continuo in early music works, as well as harmonium and celesta for the Nottingham chamber ensemble saraBande in a variety of chamber arrangements, including Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an exhibition and Mahler’s Fourth symphony. He has also been involved in a variety of musicals and theatre productions as a MD, assistant MD, rehearsal pianist or keyboards, including Les Miserables, Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat, Bugsy Malone and Oliver!
As a composer, arranger and orchestrator, Paul regularly receives commission requests and also publishes a selection of compositions on his website, free of charge, to aid choirs whose music budgets might not stretch to buying lots of new music. He was the composer-in-residence at St Wulfram’s Church, Grantham, where he wrote for a number of occasions including the yearly commemoration of the Battle of Bosworth, marked by the choir of St Wulfram’s at Leicester Cathedral.
As a composer, arranger and orchestrator, Paul regularly receives commission requests and also publishes a selection of compositions on his website, free of charge, to aid choirs whose music budgets might not stretch to buying lots of new music. He was the composer-in-residence at St Wulfram’s Church, Grantham, where he wrote for a number of occasions including the yearly commemoration of the Battle of Bosworth, marked by the choir of St Wulfram’s at Leicester Cathedral.
