Executive Members

Executive Members of
The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland

Besides the Officers, the following are members of the Executive.
If elected for a further term, they cannot be reappointed for one year.

John Crothers

(2023)

John Crothers portrait

John, following a career chiefly as a grammar school Modern Languages teacher, moved from Northern Ireland to Paris in 2001 to teach English at university and upper school level. He has now retired, but uses his ‘spare’ time to play the church organ, conduct a choir and to compose hymn tunes and anthems for the Church.

He studied the organ with Dr Donald Davison, Belfast City and University Organist and music editor of a number of Anglican Hymnals...

The Rev'd Dr Graham Deans

(2017)

Graham Deans

Graham is a graduate of the Universities of Aberdeen, St. Andrews and Oxford, and gained his D.Min. at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary where he also won the Richard J. Rapp Memorial Prize for his paper, Play it Again, Psalm! in 2006. He is a third generation Church of Scotland Minister, and since his ordination in 1978 served parishes in Fife, Dumfries, Orkney, and Aberdeen...

James Dickinson

2026

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To be added
Nicholas Markwell

2026

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To be added
The Rev'd Dr Andrew Pratt

(2024)

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Andrew Pratt is a British Methodist Minister and Hymn Writer. Born in Paignton, Devon, he studied Zoology at university, took a Masters in Marine Biology and then taught for seven years in secondary schools. He trained for the Methodist Ministry at Queens College, Birmingham serving in various Circuits in the North West of England. He researched the hymns of...
Philip Price

(2024)

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Philip Price was born in London, and studied modern languages at Worcester College, Oxford, graduating in 1981. He pursued a career in marketing and management, working for Cadburys, Tetley Tea, and German coffee company Tchibo, where he ran their new business in Poland in the 1990s. Retiring from full-time employment in 2019, he works (very) part-time as a...
Dr. Gillian Warson

(2024)

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Gillian Warson trained as a professional viola player and then worked as a church musician and teacher in Germany. Since completing her Ph.D. on the development of the hymnbook in hymn singing cultures, she has continued her interest in hymnody. In 2006 her biography of Fred Kaan was published by Stainer & Bell Ltd and she thoroughly enjoyed working closely with Fred while this book was in preparation. Since then ...

Mr John A.W. Webber

(2017)

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John Webber was born in Okehampton, Devon in 1948 but was living in London by the time that he was of school age. Having learned to play the piano and organ from an early age, and also by watching other choir trainers, he was appointed organist and choirmaster to his first position at the age of fifteen...