Thomas
Moore BMus, MA, FRCO is the Director of Music at St Matthew’s.
Tom was born in Leicester, and received his first piano
lessons at the age of 4. He was a treble in Leicester
Cathedral Choir, and it was while he was a chorister
that he took up organ lessons with the Assistant
Organist at the cathedral, Geoffrey Carter. Tom studied
music at A level on the specialist music course run by
Charles Keene College in the city.
Moving to Huddersfield University to continue his
studies, Tom graduated firstly as a Batchelor of Music,
and then went on to take a Master of the Arts
postgraduate degree in performance studies. During these
years, he held organ scholarships at Huddersfield Parish
Church and then Bradford Cathedral, and was then
Assistant Organist at St James the Greater Church in
Leicester. After completing his degrees, Tom went on to
successfully gain his Associateship, and then Fellowship
of the Royal College of Organists diplomas.
Tom has spent many years working in cathedral music,
becoming Assistant Organist at Peterborough Cathedral
the year after he finished his Masters degree. He spent
four years in post, and was then appointed Assistant
Director of Music at Wakefield Cathedral in West
Yorkshire. In this role, he played for many of the
services in the cathedral, and trained and directed the
girl choristers of the cathedral choir. Between 2010 and
2020, Tom was the Director of Music at the cathedral.
Over the years he worked in Wakefield, he directed the
choir through numerous recordings, broadcasts, national
and international tours, and maintained independent top
lines of boy and girl choristers. Many of these children
went on to study music at higher level and to forge
careers in music. Choristers under Tom’s guidance sang
at many high profile events, and four of his choristers
reached the final of BBC Chorister of the year
competition. Tom himself twice played in the presence of
HM Queen Elizabeth II, having had the unusual honour of
taking part in two Royal Maundy services, at Bradford in
1997 and at Wakefield in 2005.
In September 2022, Tom assumed the appointment of
Director of Music at St Matthew’s Church in Northampton.
It is early days for him in this prestigious role, and
there is much work to be done in recruiting for the
choir and building the ensemble back up to be at its
best. However, there is already much to commend
regarding the choir’s work, and everyone is pleased to
be singing together again.
Tom is married to Heidi and they have two young
children. In any spare time Tom has, he takes a keen
interest in cars, currently owning four. He is a Formula
1 fan, and occasionally travels abroad to race weekends.
He also enjoys working on the family’s allotment, likes
real ale, and does part time work driving funeral
limousines and hearses. |