AESTRO COLIN MAWBY is one of the most well known and popular composers these days. He recently became a contributor of Castaway, a new blog focusing on choral & sacred music founded by Aurelio Porfiri.

Colin Mawby is an English organist and composer. He was the Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral and also the Choral Director for the Irish National Television and Radio Service. Perhaps Dr. Lucas Tappan can tell us even more, since he’s made an extensive study of Westminster (and even visited there, I believe). He was awarded Knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. He also appeared on Sursum Corda—an EWTN documentary on sacred music and the liturgy.

The English maestro has posted quite a few short articles since April and I am sure our readers will find them interesting. In his most recent article, Three (3) Contemporary Composers of Choral Music You Should Not Overlook, Mawby mentioned the music of Benjamin Britten, Morten Lauridsen, and Avro Pärt. He said their contemporary liturgical music “reflects our culture and speaks to the souls of all listeners.”

Allow me to add a fourth composer: Colin Mawby himself, whose works should not be overlooked. His piece, Ave Verum Corpus, was sung during one of the Masses at CMAA’s Sacred Music Colloquium. This piece is definitely contemporary—but also beautiful, dignified, and truly liturgical. Mawby shares the story behind the piece in one of his posts.

He wrote some other interesting POSTS including:

— Edward Elgar’s choral music|
— How to make your choir sound better|
— A few suggestions to write a decent liturgical composition|
— Why the organ and not the guitar?|
— Is the UK still the country of choral music?