| St Francis' Choir
- People Tony
Way
Director of Music at St Francis' Church
In 1998 Tony Way was appointed Director of Music at St Francis’ Church, Melbourne. Aged 35, he was one of the youngest musicians to be appointed to a major church music directorship in Australia.
After studies at the universities of Queensland and Melbourne, Tony began his involvement with St Francis’ Choir in 1986 as choir organist. In 1987 he was awarded an Italian Government Scholarship to study at the Conservatorio G. B. Martini in Bologna. His career highlights as Assistant Director of Music at St Francis’ included playing for Mass in the presence of Olivier Messiaen, being the organist for the National Liturgical Music Convention of 1993, and accompanying the St Francis’ Choir on its European tour in 1990-91.
Tony has been responsible for enhancing the already rich tradition of liturgical music at St Francis’ by being involved in many significant first performances as organist or conductor. In 2001 Tony conducted the Australian premiere of Verdi’s Messa solenne and the world premiere of Colin Mawby’s Messe solennelle. In 2000 Tony oversaw the installation of a new organ in St Francis’. Built by the Canadian firm of Casavant Frères the organ of 42 stops and 46 ranks has been hailed as one of the most successful new instruments of recent times.
Apart from his work at St Francis’, Tony regularly reviews recordings of classical music for the Green Guide of the Melbourne Age and continues to compose liturgical music, much of which has been published by various Australian and American publishers. He has
also completed an M. Mus. degree at Australian Catholic University. |
