Andrew Carter
Andrew Carter, 86, English composer, pedagogue, conductor, and arranger, died January 5 in York, UK. He was born on December 13, 1939, into a Leicestershire family of tower and handbell ringers. After completing a music degree at Leeds University where he studied organ and piano, he joined the York Minster Choir in 1962 as a bass songman under the direction of Francis Jackson. For a decade, he served as director of music at Bar Convent Grammar School.
In 1965 Carter founded the Chapter House Choir at York Minster. During his seventeen-year tenure as conductor, the mixed-voice concert group earned awards in the BBC Let the Peoples Sing competition. A Winston Churchill Fellow in 1981, he studied choral traditions in Scandinavia, and in 1986 became a founder committee member of the Association of British Choral Directors (ABCD), addressing its first convention in Oxford. In 1984 Carter spent a year in New Zealand as director of the Auckland Dorian Choir, University Chamber Choir, and Youth Choir.
Upon returning to York, his career focused on his work as a composer. Carter’s compositions were published over a period of thirty years. His catalog of over 250 works ranges from intimate choral miniatures to large-scale works for choir, soloists, and orchestra, including Benedicite, Horizons, and Missa Sancti Pauli. His early carol and folk song arrangements, written for his York choirs, were published by Banks Music Publications. Much of his music was later published by Oxford University Press and MorningStar Music Publishers. He was perhaps best known for A Maiden Most Gentle, which was heard on the BBC’s annual broadcast of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College, Cambridge, alongside Mary’s Magnificat and I Wonder As I Wander. His recording Andrew Carter’s Christmas Carols, with organist John Scott, was named among BBC Music Magazine’s “ten best ever” Christmas CDs in 2007.
Andrew Carter was predeceased by his wife Sylvia in 2023. He is survived by his daughter Elinor, his son Martin, daughter-in-law Krissie, and five grandchildren. His funeral took place January 30 at St. Saviourgate Venue, York. For information: andrewcarter.org.
William Paul "Bill" Pacini
William Paul (“Bill”) Pacini, born December 1, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois, died September 7, 2025. He began piano lessons at the age of four. He played piano for his church Sunday school and at age twelve started playing the organ. At fourteen he held his first paying organist position at Mayfair Lutheran Church, which he continued until he graduated from North Park Academy. He then went to Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, where he majored in organ and minored in piano, harpsichord, and choral conducting. While there he played for several churches.
Upon graduation, Pacini taught music in the Chicago Public School system and was organist for St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Barrington, Illinois. While there he was instrumental in obtaining a two-manual pipe organ built by Werner Bosch of Germany. He also played piano and organ for Chicago Public Schools All City Choir, and he served as musician for a now-closed church in the Edison Park neighborhood of Chicago.
In May 1986 Pacini accepted the position of music director at All Saints of the Desert Episcopal Church, Sun City, Arizona. He was instrumental in obtaining an Allen organ for the sanctuary and a harpsichord for the chapel. While still holding his position at All Saints, in 1993 he started a single-family-home property management company, Active Property Management. Beginning in December 2019 Pacini substituted at various churches, until his health declined. He was a long time member of the Association of Anglican Musicians and Central Arizona Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
William Paul Pacini is survived by his sister Valerie, niece Cynthia Baker, and extended family. A celebration of life service was held on December 1, 2025, which would have been his 82nd birthday.
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