New director of music at Banbury's St. Marys Church has exciting plans for future

The church is delighted to welcome 24-year-old graduate of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, teacher of music, choral director and organist Dylan McCaig to their team.

Liverpool-born Dylan has a passion for early music and has worked alongside baroque music ensembles across the country as well as organising his own baroque instrumental projects at various UK cathedrals.

When not working with the musicians and choir at the church, the talented young director is also working as a teacher of music and organ tutor at The Warriner School in Bloxham.

Dylan has lots of exciting plans for the church and aims to put Banbury on the map for music. He said: "There was quite a large choir and a rich choral tradition at St. Mary’s and the area 30 years ago, and I want to bring that back.

“Having worked in three UK cathedrals including Liverpool, I’m so used to working with fantastic music professionals on a day-to-day basis, inspiring the next generation for musicians. My aim is to really put St. Mary’s on the map as a hub of choral music, outreach and concerts. My vision for St. Mary’s is to bring a cathedral music mentality to what is already a cathedral-like church.”

Dylan will now work on building up the church’s choir with the recruitment of new members and creating a concert series for the festival singers who perform at all of the church’s major engagements throughout the year.

As part of the recruitment, the new director of music will be visiting state and independent schools in the area to see if they have any suitable students to join the new choir at the church. He will also be contacting local choral societies to scout out lay clerks to support the younger pupils in singing at St Mary’s.

Dylan added: "We hope to introduce awards through the Royal School of Church Music so that the kids who spend their Sundays coming to sing have something more to show for it and something they can put on their CV.”

"I will also be visiting primary schools in the area to build up our junior choir that will sing once a month. I would love to make St. Mary’s a base for young people to learn the organ, with hopefully some organ students becoming proficient enough to play at some of Banbury’s other wonderful churches that don’t currently have their own organists. I want to make St. Mary’s Church a hub for many musical projects."