An announcement regarding our Director of Music.

It is with great sadness that today we learned the sad news of our dear Ian Keatley’s death. As a Cathedral community we are so deeply shocked and are finding it hard to believe. Our hearts go out to Ian’s family, who were all here at the Cathedral with him just a couple of weeks ago, as proud of him as he of them.

Ian’s funeral is to take place at St George’s, Belfast, on Friday 23 August at 12 noon. Dean Emeritus Andrew Nunn will be preaching and Southwark Cathedral will be well represented.

Our own Service of Thanksgiving for Ian's life will take place at the Cathedral on St Cecilia's Day, 22 November, at 5.30om in the context of Choral Evensong. In the meantime, please join us in praying for Ian’s loved ones in these difficult days.

Ian was an incredibly talented musician, and he loved his work here at the Cathedral and had many friends. Whilst an Organ Scholar here, from 2002-2004, he founded the Merbecke Choir. After then working at Westminster Abbey Choir School, the Chapel Royal in the Tower of London, and Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, he returned to Southwark five years ago. He absolutely loved choral music and was a passionate and skilled director, as well as a guide and mentor to the choristers. None of us will forget him recently conducting lots of choirs from all over the Diocese for a special diocesan Evensong, filling the nave with beauty and joy. His passion for church music was infectious, and it was a true gift and blessing to our community.

Ian was also a lover of life, a bon vivant, a man whose laughter filled a room, and whose hospitality was legendary. Colourful, stylish, a person of substance and reflection, he loved wine, good food, travel, and his many friends. He also took his faith seriously and understood his choral direction as a vocation, translating our faith into sound. We are all the better for him and all that he gave us. We will miss him deeply.

May Ian rest in peace and love, and rise in glory.

Mark Oakley

Dean