Gordon Roland-Adams
The ashes of Leslie Gordon Roland-Adams, Head Master of Westminster Abbey Choir School from 1988 to 1997, were buried in the vault of the Islip chapel in the Abbey on 29th April 2017, he having died in 2016 aged 69. He was a chorister at Worcester cathedral under Douglas Guest (later Organist and Master of the Choristers at the Abbey) and was educated at Durham. Before his appointment to the Choir School (in Dean's Yard) he was director of music at Westminster Under School. During his time the Choir School was extensively re-furbished and he instituted several changes in routine. From 1997 he was Head Master of the Choir School of St Thomas, Fifth Avenue, New York where he later suffered a stroke. He was unmarried and his funeral was at Worcester.
Further reading
Westminster Abbey Chorister summer 1997 for GRA's recollections of his time at the School and winter 1997 for his farewell
Westminster Abbey Review winter 2016/17 for obituary
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