Dear People, Neighbours, and Friends of St. Thomas’s,
When I announced in September that Philip Fillion had agreed to serve as our Acting Assistant Director of Music, I promised to update you as our plans for the music program developed. Here is the next instalment. I am pleased to announce that, upon the recommendation of our Organist & Choirmaster, Elizabeth Anderson, the Rector and Churchwardens (known collectively as “Corporation”) have appointed five highly qualified members of the St. Thomas’s community to an Advisory Committee that will spearhead our search to fill the open position of Assistant Director of Music. The committee’s responsibility is to recommend a candidate to Corporation, which will make the appointment. We are aiming to do so before we celebrate our patronal festival in July.
Before I introduce the members, many of whom need no introduction, I should answer the question that will be on many people’s minds: What about Philip? The answer is that Philip is most welcome to apply for the position. Corporation has an obligation to the parish, however, to ensure a thorough search. Philip understood that this would be the case when he generously agreed to take on the acting position, and I am grateful for the stability he has brought to the St. Thomas’s Choristers, for his musicianship at the organ week by week, and for his collegiality in working with Elizabeth and all of our adult singers.
The committee has three ex officio members: Elizabeth, myself, and Kevin Blagrave, who will serve in his capacity as a churchwarden, though, helpfully, he also happens to be a choir member. As many of you know, Elizabeth first came to St. Thomas’s in 1989 as a chorister under John Tuttle, and went on to serve as organ scholar, assistant organist, associate organist, and twice as interim before her appointment as Organist & Choirmaster in 2023. She has, in other words, experienced the music of this parish from nearly every possible perspective, and I am grateful for her guidance that has led to these appointments.
The five appointed members are Kathryn Exon-Smith, Anna Kennedy, Bonnie McKenzie, Alexander Smith, and Andrew Vivian. I should note for the record that Kathryn and Alexander are not related. This is something of a St. Thomas’s tradition: Anna served on the Selection Committee that resulted in my call as rector alongside two other unrelated members named Kennedy!
In recommending these five to Corporation, Elizabeth found herself reaching for the same words again and again: level-headed, kind-hearted, objective, and deeply invested in the excellence of liturgical music at St. Thomas’s. Unsurprisingly, she also kept mentioning their ears. By my count the appointed members possess ten exceptionally keen ones among them, which I’m sure everyone would agree is the most important equipment a committee like this can have.
Kathryn Exon-Smith sings in our Evensong Choir and has sung in choirs since her teenage years. She has worked in recruiting, so she knows how to find excellent candidates and understands the human resources side of a search. Kathryn holds a Master of City Planning from Berkeley and is now back in Toronto as a Senior Research Officer at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, where she focuses on research and partnership engagement in infrastructure, transit-oriented communities, and equitable development. Elizabeth describes her as a critical thinker, a clear communicator, and a gifted builder of relationships.
Anna Kennedy brings years of experience in management and successful team-building, together with what Elizabeth describes simply as “incredibly good musical listening skills.” As noted above, she also brings the rare distinction of having done this sort of thing here before. Anna has been involved in so many ministries at St. Thomas’s, including currently as the head of the Altar Guild and previously as parish treasurer, that it’s impossible to describe adequately in one paragraph everything she brings to this committee, so I shan’t even try. If you want to know more, Anna is listed twenty-four times in the index of the most recent volume of our parish history, Household of God, Volume 2!
Bonnie McKenzie is a former churchwarden and an exceptionally good musician, with years of experience in management and team-building, and a solid understanding of contracts. She will seek the very best for St. Thomas’s both musically and from a human resources perspective, and she will be travelling into town from Guelph for the committee’s meetings whenever it’s necessary to meet in person, which tells you something about her devotion to this parish.
Alexander Smith received his formative training as a boy chorister in a high-level choir, plays the cello, sings in our choir, and knows how to deliver a musical line. We most recently heard his prowess on the cello in the hauntingly beautiful Pie Jesu of Duruflé’s Requiem. By day Alexander is an embedded systems engineer who designs and implements firmware and software for a satellite telecommunications company. Should a promising candidate turn up in low earth orbit, we are covered.
Andrew Vivian sings as a volunteer at the 11 a.m. High Mass and teaches grades 7 and 8. Anyone who can hold the attention of a room full of twelve- and thirteen-year-olds understands what it takes to engage children and young people, and that matters a great deal in this search, because the Assistant Director of Music leads our young St. Thomas’s Choristers. Elizabeth also commends Andrew’s good ear and his good sense of humour, the latter being an underrated but indispensable qualification for committee work.
You may be wondering: Why should we care so much about undertaking a thorough search? Because music at St. Thomas’s is not simply an ornament to our worship; it is one of the chief ways we offer the Gospel, freely, to anyone who comes through our doors or joins us via livestream. And because the person we call will spend Thursday afternoons and Sunday mornings with the children of the St. Thomas’s Choristers, the free music education program we began in 2023 for young people in grades 2 to 12, that person will be tending to the formation not only of voices but of souls.
So I ask three things of you as the search begins.
Pray for the committee and for every musician who will consider applying. Discernment is the Holy Spirit’s work before it is ours, and eight people around a table (or on a Zoom conference call) need all the help they can get!
Spread the word. The position will be posted via the website with a link in The Thurible as soon as it has been finalized, and the best candidates often hear of an opening from a friend rather than from an advertisement. If you know a fine organist and choir trainer who loves children, liturgy, and the Anglo-Catholic tradition, please point that person in our direction.
Let the committee work in confidence. A good search protects the privacy of everyone who applies. Please do not ask the members at coffee hour who is on the list. They will not tell you, and neither will I. (And please don’t try to get anything out of Philip, either.) We will all be happy to talk about almost anything else, particularly if it’s related to how the Gospel is conveyed through music. I will keep you informed of the committee’s progress when there’s news that can be shared.
Finally, a reminder that this Sunday, November 15, we will gather for a combined High Mass at 10:30 a.m., followed by our special Vestry meeting. Come and sing, and then stay and hear some very good news about the future of this parish.
Yours in Christ’s service,
Nathan J.A. Humphrey+
VIII Rector
