Andrew Carter, 86, English composer, pedagogue, conductor, and arranger, died January 5. 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 singing bass under the direction of Francis Jackson. For a decade, he served as director of music at St. Mary’s 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. 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 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.
