We are pleased to announce the appointment of Maks Adach as Associate for Musical Studies and Assistant Organist at Saint Thomas Church and Choir School, to work with Jeremy Filsell and Christopher Seeley. He will commence his duties in March 2022.
Jeremy Filsell writes:
We are excited to appoint Maks to this new position. We look forward to welcoming both he and his wife Sarah to the Saint Thomas community. Maks brings considerable experience of teaching and playing gained on both sides of the Atlantic and he will enrich our worshipping life in myriad ways.
Bio
Maks began his musical training as a chorister at the London Oratory under the direction of Lee Ward and Nicholas O’Neill. While still at school, Maks continued his organ studies with Daniel Moult at the Royal College of Music Junior Department, and then spent a year at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance under the tutelage of Ann Elise Smoot. From there he went on to read Music as organ scholar of Oriel College, Oxford. A prizewinning associate of the Royal College of Organists, he currently studies the organ with Peter Sykes.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Maks remained at Oxford and read for a master’s degree in musicology. His research interests include Laude Spirituale (the vernacular, sacred yet non-liturgical monophonic songs of thirteenth century Tuscany), Jacobean verse anthems, and musical analysis. He is currently working on an analysis of Herbert Howells’ many and varied settings of the Nunc Dimittis.
Maks has held organ scholarships at both Liverpool and Lichfield Cathedrals, as well positions at St John’s College, Oxford; Pusey House, Oxford; and the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Maks moved to the United States from his native UK to serve as Assistant Director of Music at St Paul’s Church, Harvard Square, home to the only Roman Catholic boys’ choir school in the United States.
In addition to his work as an organist and choral director, Maks is active as a music editor. His critical edition of Ethel Smyth’s Five Sacred Partsongs has recently been published by Stainer and Bell as part of the Multitude of Voyces series—a project dedicated to promoting music by underrepresented composers.
Maks is married to Sarah Norvell, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in Classics at Princeton University. A graduate of Yale and Oxford and a Marshall Scholar alumna, Sarah is currently a fellow at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (Greece). A former chorister at Washington National Cathedral, Sarah is also a proud alumna of the Saint Thomas Girl Chorister Course. In their spare time, Maks and Sarah enjoy travelling, birdwatching, churchcrawling, and visiting museums and art galleries.
Maks writes:
I am excited to be joining Saint Thomas as Associate for Musical Studies and Assistant Organist. It is an honor and privilege to become a part of this remarkable musical institution. It is my sincere hope that through my skills and work as an organist and teacher, I will support each chorister on his journey of both musical and spiritual formation and thereby advance the worshipping life of the church.
