The Titular Organist and Choirmaster is Adv Deon Irish SC OSC BA LLB (UCT) LTCL (Perf) ARSCM, who was appointed organist of St Peter’s, Camps Bay in 1958, at the age of nine years. After completing his military service, he spent four years singing in the St George’s Cathedral Choir, then directed by Barry Smith, and was also tutored for the LTCL by Prof Shirley Gie. He succeeded Richard Cock as Organist and Choirmaster of St Michael’s on Advent Sunday of 1972, since which time he has greatly expanded the choir’s repertoire and introduced the regular liturgical performances of orchestral masses, having conducted over 150 performances of some 30 orchestral settings of the mass in the last threee decades. At the petition of the parish, he was awarded the title Titular Organist by the Bishop of Table Bay in 2002, both in recognition of his 30th anniversary as Organist as also to mark the donation by him to the parish of the 1907 Norman & Beard two manual organ acquired from Addington Palace, the pipework, keyboards and blower of which was used in the rebuilding of the parish’s existing two manual 1906 Norman & Beard as a four manual instrument. In 2011 he was made a Member of the Order of St Simon of Cyrene in recognition of his services to church music within the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. In 2020 he was made an Associate of the Royal School of Church Music in recognition of his contribution to the training choristers and the maintenance of liturgical music in South Africa.

The Assistant Organist is Shannon Thebus, who started his musical career at Muizenburg Junior School playing recorder and trumpet and also accompanying the senior and junior choirs on the piano. He thereafter enrolled at the Beau Soleil Music Centre where he commenced tuition on French horn and was recruited as a player in the South African National Youth Orchestra (SANYO), primarily as co-Principal horn and also Principal horn of the orchestra’s Wind Ensemble. Having won a full music scholarship to Bishops Diocesan College in Cape Town, he furthered his studies of French horn with Peter Amon, and also studied organ with Mark Mitchell and double bass with Donat Pelei.
He continued tertiary studies in French horn and organ at the University of Cape Town with Peter Amon and Grant Brasler,. During his studies he was Principal horn of the UCTSO and Wind Ensemble, as well as Principal horn of the Cape Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (CPYO) and Wind Ensemble (CPYWE). During this period he was also organist of the Holy Trinity Church in Kalk Bay.
Shannon was the winner of the 10th SA National Horn Symposium Competition and has also taught a variety of brass instruments. He is currently Principal Horn of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he was appointed to in 2022. In 2023, Shannon received the SICMF bursary, which allowed him to attend a study exchange with Geoffrey Pilkington, the Principal Horn of the Kennedy Centre Opera House Orchestra. Upon his return, he was invited to partipate as an assistant faculty member for the SICMF in July 2024. In October, 2024 he was appointed Organ Scholar at St Michael and All Angels in Observatory, succeeding Richard Haigh as Assistant Organist in November 2025.

The Organ Scholar is Liam Johnson.

We welcome enquiries by visiting organists and organ enthusiasts and by persons interested in the work of the choir. In this regard, the organists are always pleased to meet visitors at the organ console after services. In addition, Deon can be contacted on 076 886 4519 or by email at deoni@iafrica.com; and Shannon on 065 807 2517.