The Cathedral Church of St Andrew, Aberdeen
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MUSIC DEPARTMENT
The Cathedral Music Department is based around five choirs comprised of professional and voluntary musicians, a vibrant and continuous series of concerts, and a programme of exciting and eclectic cathedral music which reflects strongly the cathedral's purposeful sense of liturgy and occasion. The Music Department is run by two officials, the Organist and Master of the Choristers, and the Assistant Organist, with assistance from other members of the cathedral's musical family.
The Organist and Master of the Choristers Dr Andrew Morrisson, PhD, ARCM, BSc(Hons), MRSC, CChem
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Dr Andrew Morrisson is Organist and Master of the Choristers at Saint Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen, a position he has held for over twenty years. During this time he has conducted the Cathedral Choir in most of the Cathedrals in the United Kingdom and made many broadcasts on television and radio. With the Cathedral Choir he has made a number of recordings both as conductor or organist. Andrew Morrisson was educated at Brentwood School, Essex where he learned the organ with Dr Edgar Bryce of the Royal Academy of Music. Following a move to Aberdeen to study for a PhD he was appointed Organist at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Aberdeen. In 1983 he was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at the Cathedral. During his time at the Cathedral, he has directed the choir on many television and radio broadcasts and several recordings including a solo CD to mark 21 years tenure at the Cathedral. He has toured with the choir in the UK and abroad including over twenty of the English Cathedrals.
Dr Morrisson is also the Associate Head of the School of Life Sciences at the Robert Gordon University Aberdeen. After graduating in Chemistry from Imperial College London, he completed his PhD at the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen working on laser remote sensing of environmental pollutants. He then ran the SERC-funded high resolution Fourier Transform Infrared facility at Aberdeen University for 5 years before being appointed to the staff at RGU. During his time at RGU he has developed research interests in chemical speciation, chemometrics and the application of capillary electrophoresis in a variety of areas. Since 2001 he has been the Subject Leader in Forensic Science at RGU with responsibility for implementing undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes and coordinating research and consultancy in forensic science, application of analytical chemistry and chemometric techniques to forensic science. He is currently a member of the Forensic Institute Board. Alongside his career as a chemist, Andrew Morrisson has also conducted several Aberdeen choirs, most notably Con Anima, and has been involved with co-operation between cathedral music departments across Scotland for many years.
The Assistant Organist George Chittenden, MA
George Chittenden is the Assistant Organist to Aberdeen Cathedral; his appointment at the cathedral was made in April 2006, at which time he became the youngest cathedral organist in Great Britain. Alongside the Organist and Master of the Choristers, Dr Andrew Morrisson, George plays an active role in the busy musical life of the cathedral, organising both the intense program of midweek choral services, and also the cathedral concert series, which features an exciting and eclectic blend recitals every week of the year. Alongside this, George is extremely active as both an accompanist and a choral director at the cathedral, working with the cathedral choir on tours across many of the major choral establishments across the British Isles and the USA. While at the University of Aberdeen, George accompanied the majority of university services during his time as David Gordon Memorial Senior Organ Scholar, and featured on Radio 2, Radio 4 and BBC1 with the University Chapel Choir. During this time, George completed a Master of Arts degree in History with Music Studies, focusing on classical music during the Nazi occupation within Denmark; he has now begun a Phd studying aspects of Scandinavian musicology. In addition to doctoral studies, George teaches piano and voice regularly to students of all ages across Aberdeen, and will currently teaches piano to 1st Year music students at the university.
Before moving to Aberdeen, George held positions at Holy Trinity Church in Folkestone, St Augustine’s Church in Folkestone, and St Paul’s Church in Sandgate. His interest in the organ began at a young age, and was fostered in his playing by George Sharman, who was at the time the Director of Music to Westbrook House Preparatory School. Previously, George has been taught by John Hurd, David Flood and Anne Marsden-Thomas and Roger Williams. He is currently taught by Gerard Brooks.
George is in frequent demand as both a recitalist and an accompanist. In recent years George has performed throughout the British Isles, Europe and the USA, but has a particularly active solo recital career in Scandinavia. George, who is half Swedish, performs regularly in Scandinavia throughout the year, and is equally comfortable working as a musician in Scandinavia as in Great Britain. He has recently performed to high acclaim in Uppsala Cathedral, Sweden, which is Scandinavia’s most prolific organ recital venue. As an accompanist, George works regularly with the vast majority of choirs in the northeast of Scotland. Additionally, George is a composer of both choral and organ music, whose works are regularly performed across Great Britain.