St Alphege Church Choirs 

Joe Cooper was a chorister at St Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton where he was Head Chorister and Organ Scholar.  Joe attended the Birmingham Conservatoire under tutors Henry Fairs and Paul Spicer.  Before his appointment here he ran the music department at St Bartholomew's in Penn for five years where he built up a successful choir culminating in tours and the production of CDs.  Now at St Alphege he is determined to give the choirs national acclaim and make the church the centre of music in the town.  Emphasis is placed on links with schools and music societies, but of course the most important part of the job is the day-to-day running of the choirs resulting in the exploration of great repertoire and high standards for all choristers involved.    Joe has been at St Alphege since October 2012 and welcomes any interest in the choirs and the music department.  To contact him use 07935 962677 or joecooper1@hotmail.co.uk.

Alex will be moving to the post of Director of Music at Leeds Minster in February 2020, so we are seeking a new Organist.  Please visit our Vacancies page for further information. 

Born in York in 1986, Alexander Woodrow pursues a freelance career as a recitalist, accompanist, choral director and teacher. He moved to Solihull in 2016 and spent two years as Head of Choral Music at Solihull School. This followed nine years of working in cathedral music, first holding organ scholarships at Guildford and St Albans Cathedrals, then working at Hexham Abbey as Assistant Organist, before moving to Bradford, where he was Organist and Director of Music at Bradford Cathedral for almost five years, while simultaneously responsible for the choral ensembles at Bradford Grammar School.

 

He now combines roles as Organist to the Solihull Parish, based at St Alphege Church, with those of Organist and Accompanist to Warwick School, Visiting Music Teacher at Solihull School, Musical Director of the Shifnal Chorale and Repetiteur to Lichfield Cathedral Chorus, as well as continuing to perform organ recitals across the country.

 

Alexander read music as Organ Scholar at Magdalene College, Cambridge, studying with Anne Page. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists at the age of 19, winning first prizes in all categories, including the Limpus Prize. He is also a Fellow of Trinity College London and a recipient of the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. Solo organ recitals have taken Alexander to many of the major churches and Cathedrals of the UK, including York Minster, King’s College and St John's College, Cambridge and Westminster Abbey.

Allison Taylor joined the music staff of St Alphege, Solihull in May 2014.  As Allison is a professional singing teacher all of the choristers are enjoying individual attention, seeing their training from another point of view.  She is also helping some of the younger choristers with music theory. 

Allison is a teacher at St Alphege Infant School and we are very pleased that the link between church and school can be cemented even more strongly.  Allison will be a familiar face to some of our children as they sing in the very successful 'SongSquad', St Alphege Junior School's choir.