Biography
Mews was the son of composer and organist Douglas Mews and his wife Nancy Radius; his brother is Constant Mews. [1] He was born in England. He was educated at St Peter's College, Auckland. He began playing the organ at St Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland, where his father (and first organ teacher) Dr Douglas Mews was choir conductor in the 1970s. He continued his organ studies privately with Kenneth Weir. [2] He graduated from University of Auckland with a master's degree in organ and harpsichord in 1979, having studied with Anthony Jennings, a former student of Maxwell Fernie. He then continued his harpsichord studies with Bob van Asperen at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, gaining Certificaat Koninkijk Cons.
At The Hague, Mews also expanded his interest in historical keyboards to include the Fortepiano. He presently holds the position of Artist Teacher in keyboard and as an early music specialist. [3] at the New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University of Wellington. He broadcasts for Radio New Zealand Concert and tours for Chamber Music New Zealand. He is the Wellington City Organist and is choir director at St Teresa's church, Karori, Wellington; he has recorded performances, including the Haydn Trios with Flute and Cello. [4] [5] In 2009 he toured Europe, giving concerts in Edinburgh, Oxford, Salzburg and Béziers in the south of France. [6]
As well as his academic work, Mews has continued his contribution to the musical life of Wellington in conducting concerts and giving keyboard recitals. [7] He is also a composer of Catholic liturgical music. [8]
Priory Records is a record company in the UK founded in 1980, and devoted mostly to church music and organ music. Important projects have included the complete Psalms sung by cathedral choirs to Anglican chant, all of the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis settings by Herbert Howells, the "British Church Composer Series", the "Choral and Music from English Cathedrals", the "Music for Evensong" and, more recently, all the hymns in the complete New English Hymnal Series. There are also three discs of the Communion Service settings of Stanford and four further discs featuring settings of the Te Deum and Jubilate.
John Stanley Body was a New Zealand composer, ethnomusicologist, photographer, teacher, and arts producer. As a composer, his work comprised concert music, music theatre, electronic music, music for film and dance, and audio-visual gallery installations. A deep and long-standing interest in the music of non-Western cultures – particularly South-East Asian – influenced much of his composing work, particularly his technique of transcribing field recordings. As an organiser of musical events and projects, Body had a significant impact on the promotion of Asian music in New Zealand, as well as the promotion of New Zealand music within the country and abroad.
RNZ Concert is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand FM fine music radio network. Radio New Zealand owns the network and operates it from its Wellington headquarters. The network's playlist of classical, jazz, contemporary, and world music includes recordings by local musicians and composers. Around 15 percent of its airtime features live concerts, orchestral performances, operas, interviews, features, and specialty music programs, many of them recorded locally.
(James) Frederick Stocken is a British classical composer, organist and musicologist.
Dame Gillian Constance Weir is a New Zealand-British organist.
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Act 2004. It is currently based in the Michael Fowler Centre and has frequently performed in the adjacent Wellington Town Hall before it was closed in 2013. It also performs in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin.
David John Briggs is an English organist and composer.
Susi, Lady Jeans was an Austrian-born professional organist, teacher and musicologist.
Stephen Farr is a British organist who is currently the Chief Examiner at the Royal College of Organists and the Director of Music at All Saints, Margaret Street.
Christopher Herrick is an English concert organist best known for his interpretation of J.S. Bach’s organ music and for his many recordings on the finest pipe organs from around the world.
David Blair Hamilton is a New Zealand composer and teacher.
Andrew Cantrill-Fenwick is a British-born organist and choral director. He has held cathedral positions in New Zealand and the United States, and was organist of the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook, Suffolk until September 2018. He is a Fellow, prize-winner and former Trustee Council member of the Royal College of Organists, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is a tutor for the RCO Academy Organ School, an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, an active recitalist, and a sought-after broadcaster, writer and presenter.
Joseph Payne was a British/Swiss German harpsichordist, clavichordist, organist and musicologist, whose worldwide reputation was based on his performances of music of all periods, though best known for his pioneering recordings of early keyboard music accompanied by his meticulously informative liner notes.
Arnott Maxwell Fernie was a New Zealand organist, teacher and conductor. He was an authority on Gregorian chant, sixteenth century polyphony, organ construction and tonal design.
Andrew Perkins is a New Zealand composer, choral conductor and teacher. He has had a number of works recorded and performed internationally.
Johann Vexo is a French organist. He is the organist for both the choir organ at Notre Dame de Paris and the great organ of Nancy Cathedral.
John Philip Kitchen MBE is a Scottish organist, harpsichordist, conductor, early music scholar, and music educator based in Edinburgh. He serves as the Edinburgh City Organist. Kitchen is known for his extensive recording portfolio of organ music, and his research and demonstration of historical keyboard instruments. He made major contributions to the discography and scholarship on the organ works of William Russell, and Johann Ludwig Krebs.
Anthony Jennings was a New Zealand harpsichordist, organist, choral and orchestral director, and academic. A proponent of the early-music movement, he advocated for authentic performing practices. He made several recordings of baroque music on the harpsichord. Musicologist J. M. Thomson wrote, that Jennings's "musical skills were wide-ranging and supported by a charismatic personality. A virtuoso organist, his performances of Romantic and contemporary repertory are remembered for their technical brilliance and musical power, but his special contribution was in the area of Baroque performance."
The University of Auckland Festival Choir, conducted by Peter Godfrey was formed in 1970 to represent New Zealand at the third International University Choral Festival in New York in May 1972. In addition to attending the Festival the 40-voice choir toured and performed in England, the Netherland, Germany and Singapore.
Douglas Kelson Mews was a Canadian-born composer, organist and church musician who worked in England and New Zealand. He taught composing at the University of Auckland from 1969 to 1983.
