Peter Wright writes:

IAN KEATLEY, Organist and Director of Music at Southwark Cathedral since 2019, died suddenly on 6 August while on holiday in Austria, aged 42. The Dean of Southwark, the Very Revd Dr Mark Oakley, has written: “As a cathedral community, we are so deeply shocked and are finding it hard to believe. Our hearts go out to Ian’s family, who were all at the cathedral recently, as proud of him as he of them.”

Ian was born in Belfast on 10 March 1982, and his love of church music began early in his life, nurtured by singing in some first-rate choirs — first as a chorister at St George’s, Belfast, and later at Methodist College Belfast, where. in 1996, he was appointed organ scholar. After school, Ian became a counter-tenor Vicar Choral at Wells Cathedral, and, in 2000, moved to Croydon Minster as assistant organist.

Ian’s association with Southwark Cathedral began in 1989, while he was a chorister of St George’s, Belfast, which sang at Southwark in a London tour. In 2002, he was appointed organ scholar, working closely with both me, his predecessor, and with Stephen Disley. This coincided with an ongoing expansion of the musical ministry of the cathedral, not least the then recent establishment of the Cathedral Girls’ Choir in 2000.

Ian was entrusted with founding the Merbecke Choir, which gave former choristers the opportunity to continue singing at a high level. All this he combined with his organ studies at the Royal College of Music. As a student and throughout his professional life, Ian gave organ recitals across the country and was the founding director of the girls’ choir for the Charles Wood Festival of Music, held each summer in churches across County Armagh.

From the organ scholarship at Southwark, Ian took up the post at Westminster Abbey, where he was involved in several state occasions, including the service to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. He became Director of Music at the Abbey’s Choir School, after which he was appointed Director of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, in 2012, before returning to Southwark in 2019.

Ian once remarked that he considered church music to be “a bridge to heaven”. His faith was strong, and he regarded his profession as choral director and teacher to be a vocation. He valued the daily rhythm of the opus Dei and lavished as much attention to detail and professionalism on a quiet weekday evensong as on a big public event, such as the memorial service for the author Dame Hilary Mantel in April 2023 or a service to celebrate the Windrush generation.

He was also mindful of the cathedral’s position as the mother church of the diocese. A mere two months ago, invited parish-church choirs from across the diocese to join the choristers of Southwark Cathedral and Croydon Minster for an evensong that filled the nave with music and joyful celebration.

Ian loved life, and was a true bon vivant. His laughter and warmth of personality filled a room, and he was a byword for hospitality and generosity. He loved good food, wine, travel, and his many friends. Ian was an inspiration and mentor to many, young and old, all of whom were touched permanently by his pursuit of excellence and joy in music and his infectious and irresistible enthusiasm.