The Chaplain
The Revd Dr Simon Jones (Fellows' 3:2) has been Chaplain of Merton since 2002. As well as being responsible for the day to day life of the Chapel, Simon also co-ordinates the various College welfare bodies and convenes the College's Student Support Committee and patronage committee. He is always happy to speak in confidence with any member of College (regardless of religious affiliation) concerning any matter.
Email: Dr Simon Jones
Telephone: 01865 276365.
Before coming to Merton, Simon served his curacy at Tewkesbury Abbey in the Diocese of Gloucester. He trained for ordination at Westcott House in Cambridge and, as a member of Selwyn College, completed a PhD in Syrian baptismal theology. His current research interests include recent revisions of Anglican baptismal rites, Gregory Dix and the origin and development of marriage rites. He is a member of the Church of England Liturgical Commission, the Oxford Diocesan Liturgical Committee and is also liturgy tutor at St Stephen's House, Oxford.
Junior Chaplain
The Revd Mark Stafford assists with Chapel services and activities. He is the Curate of St Barnabas, Jericho. A former Circus performer, he ran a South London Youth Work Trust for 10 years before training for ordination at Ripon College, Cuddesdon. He is currently completing an MA in Group Analytic Psychotherapy.
Email: The Revd Mark Stafford
The Revd Peter Anthony assists with Chapel services and activities. He is a graduate student and Junior Dean at St Stephen's House, where he trained for ordination, and is now working on a DPhil in New Testament Apocalyptic. Before returning to Oxford, Peter was a curate in Hendon, North London, and before that a Modern Linguist at Magdalen.
Email: The Revd Peter Anthony
Chapel Officers
A number of students assist with the running of the Chapel. Chapel Wardens welcome people to services, arrange readers and servers for the main Sunday evening service and send out the weekly Chapel email. The sacristans light candles and ring the bells before services and often serve at the Sunday evening Eucharist. The Chapel Clerk arranges the rota of weekday readers. This year's officers are:
Chapel Wardens: Tristan Franklinos and Tim Foot
Sacristans: Marie Sall and Joe Hutchinson
Chapel Clerk: Jonathan Burr
To find out more about how to get involved, email the Chaplain or phone him on 01865 276365.
Reed Rubin Organist & Director of Music
Benjamin Nicholas is the Reed Rubin Organist and Director of Music of Merton College, Oxford. He has conducted the College Choir on tours to the USA and France, on BBC Radio 3 and on recordings for Delphian. From 2000 until 2012 he directed the choir of men and boys at Tewkesbury Abbey and was largely responsible for the founding of Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum when the Abbey School closed in 2006. He led the choir on thirteen overseas tours and made a series of recordings on Delphian. Benjamin Nicholas was Director of Choral Music at Dean Close School from 2005 until 2012. In 2011 he succeeded Andrew Carwood as Director of the Schola Cantorum at the Edington Festival of Music and in 2013 became Festival Director.
Benjamin Nicholas has conducted much of the large-scale choral repertoire including Elgar The Dream of Gerontius, Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony, Verdi Requiem and Berlioz Te Deum. Recent concerts include Holst Savitri with Sarah Connolly and the Trondheim Soloists in the Cheltenham Music Festival and Bach Mass in B minor in Cheltenham Town Hall. Benjamin Nicholas has commissioned numerous composers including Chilcott, Dubra, Goodall, Ives, Jackson, Skempton and Wilby.
Benjamin was a chorister in the Choir of Norwich Cathedral before holding organ scholarships at Lincoln College, Oxford and St Paul's Cathedral. As an undergraduate he was Conductor of The Oxford Chamber Choir, and in 2000 held the post of Director of Music of St Luke's Church, Chelsea.
Email: Ben Nicholas
Reed Rubin Director of Music
Peter Phillips was educated at Winchester College and St John's College Oxford, where he was Organ Scholar between 1972 and 1975 and read music under David Wulstan and Bernard Rose. He founded the Tallis Scholars in 1973, with whom he has now appeared in over 1,750 concerts and made over 50 discs, encouraging interest in polyphony all over the world.
He taught at the Royal College of Music until 1988, since when he has devoted himself to concert-giving and recording. In addition to the Tallis Scholars, he has worked with many other specialist ensembles, currently appearing regularly with the Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Intrada of Moscow, Musica Reservata of Barcelona and the Tudor Choir of Seattle. He has made numerous television and radio appearances, on BBC Radio 4 and the World Service as well as on German, French, Canadian and North American radio, where he has enjoyed deploying his love of languages. Peter also works extensively with the BBC Singers.
As well as leading choral workshops annually in Venice, Barcelona, Rimini and Evora, Peter is Artistic Director of the Tallis Scholars Summer Schools – annual choral courses based in Uppingham (UK), Seattle (USA) and Sydney (Australia) dedicated to exploring the heritage of renaissance choral music, and developing an appropriate performance style. He was recently appointed a Reed Rubin Director of Music and Bodley Fellow at Merton College, Oxford, where the new choral foundation he helped to establish began singing services in October 2008. He has contributed a music column to the Spectator magazine for 30 years.
In 2005 Peter Phillips was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture, a decoration intended to honour individuals who have contributed to the understanding of French culture in the world.
Video of the Tallis Scholars singing in Merton Chapel
Organ Scholars
Anna Steppler is the Organ Scholar and a third year music undergraduate at Merton. She began playing the organ in 2008 on becoming the Nicholas Maines Organ Scholar at St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb. She spent her gap year studying the organ at Trinity College of Music with Ian Curror, performing both as a soloist and continuo player. She currently learns with William Whitehead, and was awarded the ARCO in 2011.
Anna is featured in one of the short admissions videos, My Merton, talking about her experience of playing in Merton Chapel.
Charlie Warren is the Junior Organ Scholar and a first year music undergraduate. He was taught by John Webber starting in 2004 and was awarded a Distinction in ABRSM Grade 8 Organ in 2011. He has played at St Edmund's RC Church and St George's Church in Beckenham.
Vocal Coaches
Carys Lane and Giles Underwood are the College's Vocal Coaches. They work with the Choral Scholars on a regular basis whilst continuing to give concerts both in the UK and abroad.
Chapel Administrator
Information about booking the Chapel for concerts and recordings is available to download. For any further enquiries, please contact the Chapel Administrator, Rachel Fright.
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