William Janssen, Organist & choirmaster
My name is William Janssen and I have been the organist and choirmaster at St. Andrew’s Church in Halstead since January 2017. I received my musical education in my native Netherlands where I studied organ at the Leeuwarden Conservatoire, composition at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatoire and music and arts management at Utrecht University. In 1995 I moved to the UK and have lived in Thetford, Norfolk ever since. I have served several Anglican churches as Director of Music and have also served nearly 5 years as organist of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Cathedral in Norwich. I was organist of the United Reformed Church in Thetford for 4 years before taking my post up at St. Andrew’s.
At St. Andrew’s I am responsible for playing the historic ‘Father’ Henry Willis organ and training the choir. I also play the pre WW1 Bechstein grand piano as part of the worship band for the family services. Several times a year I will play the fine Willis organ in organ recitals.
St. Andrew’s Church is a very good place to be a church musician, with two very fine instruments, a small but enthusiastic choir which is always looking for new members, and a very appreciative congregation.
Apart from my musical activities, I work as a furniture maker for a specialist bespoke furniture company in Newmarket. My interests are reading, cooking, classic cars, our dogs and a lot more!
You can read more about our Father Willis organ in the 'Our building' section.