Lincoln makes the Daily Mail

[DracoM]

FWIW, I would suggest that jamiewhall's posting was not 'dishonest'. It seemed to me indeed 'knee-jerk', but based on what one might surmise was an honest reading of incompletely heard / gossip / hearsay. There is a big difference between that and conscious and fomenting 'spin', surely?

It also seemed to me that whatever the provenance, he was expressing a very real fear of many young singers / performers who find their place in their chosen world usurped by what they / their mates might call unfair substitution. He is surely right to suggest that if the Lincoln practice became widespread, young male altos / countertenors would become an extinct species within 30 years and more or less unviable as a career option. The performance of Early Music of various kinds would, IMHO, be irretrievably impoverished.

So while one might regret the haste, at least that haste has turned up a real lurking fear that DoMs / Ds and Cs nationwide might well be less choosy and looking elsewhere than for men to people bits of the back rows.

A door shuts, maybe never to open again?

[Gabriel Jackson]

So while one might regret the haste, at least that haste has turned up a real lurking fear that DoMs / Ds and Cs nationwide might well be less choosy and looking elsewhere than for men to people bits of the back rows.

A door shuts, maybe never to open again?

Whatever the ins and outs of this particular situation, there is a real problem with finding male altos who want to/can sing with cathedral choirs in many establishments.

[Jamiewhall]

To clarify: The content of my original message is true if my (I assume) reliable source is to be believed. I just don't think filling a scholar post in this way is unusual or that big a deal. Hence the back-step in the intensity of my complaint. I would not post any information based on idle gossip, though in this instance the lack of one tiny detail made a huge difference.

[DracoM]

Please explain that somewhat gnomic posting?!!