Editing Romsey Abbey (section)

==Music==

===Choir===
Romsey Abbey has a choir of boy choristers (only formed in the late 19th Century) and a back row of adult altos, tenors and basses drawn from the local area. Owing to the original foundation of the Abbey, the traditional choir was of young women. Today there is a choir of girls, a senior girls choir, a training choir of youngsters and a consort of voluntary singers and members of the congregation who sing when the choirs are on holiday. Over the years the choirs have recorded multiple CDs, sung for royalty, enjoyed choir tours to numerous UK Cathedrals, Belgium, Italy and France and have a twinning relationship with a German choir from [[Mülheim an der Ruhr]]. They have appeared numerous times on BBC ''[[Songs of Praise]]'' as well as featuring in a BBC Documentary in 2018. The current director of music is Martin Seymour. {{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

===Organs===
Romsey Abbey has two organs. The main instrument was built by [[J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd|J W Walker & Sons]] in 1858 and replaced an earlier instrument by Henry Coster. The Walker Organ was rebuilt in its present position and enlarged in 1888.  Major restoration work was carried out by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd in 1995/96 under the supervision of the abbey's organist, Jeffrey Williams, restoring the mechanical actions and overhauling all of the pipe work. In 1999 a completely new nave organ by Walkers was constructed with its pipe work located on the south triforium. This can be played either from a mobile console in the nave or from the main console.<ref>{{National Pipe Organ Register|id=N11434|access-date=8 July 2020}}</ref>[[File:The Choir and organ of Romsey Abbey December 2012.jpg|thumb|The Choir and organ of Romsey Abbey December 2012]]

===Organist and master of the choristers===
*Miss Elizabeth Smith (becomes Mrs Messum in 1835) ???? - 1835<ref>Salisbury and Winchester Journal - Wednesday 25 December 1833</ref>
*S.T. Cromwell 1836 – 1849<ref>Hampshire Advertiser – Saturday 8 August 1868</ref>
*Francis Wellman
*??? Beazley
*W. Mason 1864<ref>Musical Standard, Volume II, 1864</ref> – 1865<ref>Newcastle Journal – Saturday 16 September 1865</ref> (afterwards organist of Trinity Church, South Shields)
*E.W. Perren 1866<ref>Dorset County Chronicle – Thursday 11 January 1866</ref> – 1867 (afterwards organist of [[St Thomas Church, Winchester]])
*W. Channon Cornwall 1867<ref>Salisbury and Winchester Journal – Saturday 23 February 1867</ref> – 1876<ref>Glasgow Herald – Friday 24 March 1876</ref>
*Robert S. Airey 1887<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Organist of St John’s Church |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001617/18870922/069/0005 |newspaper=The Cornish Telegraph |location=England |date=22 September 1887 |access-date=23 March 2025 |via=British Newspaper Archive }}</ref>–1888 (formerly organist of [[St John's Church, Penzance]])
*William Cary Bliss 1888 – 1899<ref>Musical Times, 1920</ref>
*J. C. Richards ca. 1907
*R. T. Bevan ca. 1921<ref>Dictionary of Organs and Organists. Second Edition. 1921</ref>
*Charles Tryhorn 1926-1957
*Charles Piper 1957-1980
*Anthony Burns-Cox 1980–1990
*Jeffrey Williams 1990–2004
*Robert Fielding 2004–2015<ref>Romsey Abbey News, 16 July 2015 {{cite web |title=Robert Fielding |url=https://www.romseyabbey.org.uk/2015/07/farewell-robert-fielding-this-sunday/ |website=Romsey Abbey |publisher=Romsey Abbey |access-date=21 November 2019 |archive-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423143738/https://www.romseyabbey.org.uk/2015/07/farewell-robert-fielding-this-sunday/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*George Richford 2015–2019 (afterwards Professor of Music, Royal Marines and Director of Music at Portsmouth Cathedral)
*Canon Peter Gould 2019–2019 (Interim Director of Music)
*Martin Seymour 2019 - (Director of Music)<ref>Romsey Abbey News April 2019 {{cite web |last1=Martin |first1=Seymour |title=Martin Seymour New Director of Music at Romsey Abbey |url=https://www.romseyabbey.org.uk/2019/04/new-director-of-music/ |website=Romsey Abbey |publisher=Romsey Abbey |access-date=21 November 2019 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803230659/https://www.romseyabbey.org.uk/2019/04/new-director-of-music/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Assistant organists===
*Keith Tomkinson 1974-1982
*Jeffrey Williams 1982–1990
*Paul Isted 1991–1996
*Timothy Rogerson 1996–2005
*David Coram 2005–2008
*James Eaton 2008–2010
*Adrian Taylor 2011–2021
*Richard McVeigh 2022-

{{Expand list|date=October 2008}}