US News

Readers have been asking me for news of Richard Somerset-Ward, who succeeded Humphrey Burton as BBC TV's head of music and arts in the early 1980s, and then moved to management of the BBC in the USA.

Richard, the son of a canon, went to Cambridge, and first emerged at the BBC in sport, producing items for Grandstand, and the odd religious discussion on Radio 4.

Now in his late sixties, he lives in a condo in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he is very busy. He is President of the Board of "Music in the Somerset Hills", chairman of the board of Muse Films, a not-for-profit New York operation that makes documentaries about culture and the visual arts, and he is a pillar of St Luke's Episcopal Church in Gladstone. There, he gives regular talks, is Chair of the Worship Committee, a member of the Episcopal Election Committee, and Master of the Corps of Acolytes....

The Corps of Acolytes at St. Luke’s is an intergenerational group made up of nearly 30 youths and several adults. The Corps is directed by the Master and Mistress of Acolytes, Richard Somerset-Ward and Alix Weisz, and is led by several young members, who are responsible for training newcomers and updating others. Acolytes are valued participants in the Sunday services; their youthful countenances (and footwear, which peeks from beneath their flowing robes) are constant reminders that St. Luke’s is a church for all ages.