richardbloomfield.ie

About Me

When he was still small, Richard was visited one day at his primary school by a strange-looking retired gentleman who was looking for boys to sing in the local parish church choir. At the time it seemed like quite a fun thing to do, and so Richard auditioned and was readily accepted into the choir. He quite quickly showed a natural aptitude and enthusiasm for this type of singing, and soon developed a sweet angelic treble voice. He was also quite a conscientious young man, and within a year or two of joining was appointed Head Chorister - a position he held until just before his voice broke.

Many other boys, when they enter their teenage years, stop singing altogether - but not Richard. His passion for church music was well established by this point, and he continued singing as his voice settled, first as an alto, then a bass, and finally as a tenor.

As you can imagine, music fairly dominated Richard's childhood. But that wasn't his only interest. Richard was also a member of the scouts, and had a teenage interest in photography. At school, Richard was a natural mathematician and scientist, and also displayed a keen interest in electronic and computers. He had a curious mind, and would often take electrical items apart, to try and learn how they worked. And so by the time he reached school-leaving age, Richard had dreams of joining the BBC as a sound engineer - combining his passions for music and technology.

However, Richard never did end up working for the media. Indeed, for some reason, he briefly gave up on his singing during his university years. Instead he had ended up concentrating solely on his computer science studies. And although he didn't really enjoy his time at college that much, Richard did become highly proficient in the field of Information Technology; acquiring skills that would later lead on to a very successful career working with computers.

Within a year of graduating from college, Richard had taken up his music again, and had also relocated to Edinburgh. There, he found a fantastic church to sing in, based in the city centre. He also developed a wide social circle of musical friends. And for 12 years, Richard enjoyed living and working in Scotland's capital. He was happy and contented, and would have no-doubt gladly lived out the rest of his days in the city.

However, over time, Richard also grew a little restless. His life in Edinburgh was comfortably, safe and predictable - but at the same time, it held little challenge for him anymore. And this fact was nagging away at him. It was demanding that Richard step out of his comfort zone, and find life's next big adventure. And so, with more than a little hesitation, he left his comfortable Edinburgh life behind.

Richard had always enjoyed his singing, but at an amateur level. And for a long time, he had wondered what it would be like to sing at a professional level, as a cathedral layclerk. And so he set started looking for positions, and ended up being offered a role in one of the two cathedral choirs in Dublin. It seemed like a fantastic opportunity, but a much larger upheaval than he had originally envisaged. Not only was he moving to a new city, but a new country. On top of finding a new home and a new day job (one that would fit in with his cathedral duties) but he would have establish a new life in Ireland.

Luckily, the move was a success, and Richard quickly settled into Dublin. The other layclerks at the cathedral were a friendly and talented bunch, and the music-making was first rate. Richard was enjoying the best singing of his entire life, and quickly found a flexible and rewarding day-job. The risk had paid off, and Richard was glad he had made the move.