ORGAN RECITALS
Each Wednesday at 1.10pm during term time we host an informal lunchtime recital which ends before 2pm. Admission is free with a retiring collection. For disabled access please speak to the Porters Lodge (01865 279120).
Join us to enjoy the sparkling sound of one of the UK’s finest organs, bathed in the glorious architecture and acoustic of the Baroque chapel.
If you have any further enquiries please ring the choir office on 01865 289177 or email choir@queens.ox.ac.uk
Michaelmas TERM 2024
Wednesday 16 October - Dr Friedhelm Flamme
Wednesday 23 October - Christopher Stembridge
Wednesday 30 October - Peter Barley - St Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick
Wednesday 6 November - George Herbert - New College, Oxford
Wednesday 13 November - Iestyn Evans - St James’s Spanish Place
Wednesday 20 November - Claire Alsop - St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol
Wednesday 27 November - Rudyard Cook - The Queen’s College, Oxford
Wednesday 4 December - Tingshuo Yang - St John’s College, Cambridge
16 October - Dr Friedhelm Flamme
Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Prelude in C BuxWV 138
Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott BuxWV 199
William Byrd (1543-1623)
All in a Garden green
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Fantasia (Concerto) in G BWV 571
(Allegro – Adagio – Allegro)
Arvo Pärt (* 1935)
Pari Intervallo
Friedhelm Flamme (* 1963)
Dona nobis pacem (from Missa brevis)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Fantasia (Pièce d’Orgue) in G BWV 572
(Très vitement – Grave – Lentement)
Friedhelm Flamme (Professor, Detmold Academy of Music)
Friedhelm Flamme studied Music Education, Sacred Music, Organ, Conducting, Musicology, Composing and Theology at Detmold Academy of Music, where he achieved the highest German academic degree in Sacred Music („A-Examen“) and finished postgraduate soloist studies with distinction (“Konzertexamen”). At Paderborn University, he achieved a degree in Religious Education and was awarded a PhD for his thesis on pianist and composer Friedrich Gulda.
He has worked as a Director of Sacred Music and teacher of music at Paul Gerhard High School in Dassel/Germany and teaches organ at Detmold Academy of Music. In 2018, his alma mater appointed him as honorary professor, thus honoring his merits as an artist and academic teacher.
Friedhelm Flamme has prolifically recorded organ music (eg. Complete Organ Works of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Carl Nielsen and the critically acclaimed series Organ Works Of The North German Baroque (22 CDs/cpo).
In 2004, his recording of the complete organ works of Maurice Duruflé was awarded the Internet Classical Award.
As an organ virtuoso and a teacher of masterclasses, Flamme is a welcome guest at cathedrals and historic organs all over the world. He is also the Artistic Director of the international organ festival Vox Organi. www.friedhelmflamme.org.
23 October - Christopher Stembridge
William Byrd (c.1540-1623)
Fancy in C (MS My Lady Nevel’s Booke 1591)
Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1554-1612)
Toccata Seconda (primo tono) (MS Turin Organ Tablature)
Adrian Willaert (c.1490-1562)
Ricercar Primo Tono (Musica Nova, Venice 1540)
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
Toccata Settima (Il Secondo Libro di Toccate, Rome 1627)
François Couperin (1668-1733)
Benedictus - Chromorne en taille (Pièces d’Orgue, Paris 1689)
J.S Bach (1685-1750)
Pièce d’Orgue BWV 572
Anon. portuguese
Obra de Meio Registo de 2o Tom de dois tiples e dois contrabaixos
(MS Porto, ca. 1695)
Christopher Stembridge was a chorister at Lichfield and - after reading languages at Cambridge where he was organ scholar in Downing - studied in Germany with Anton Nowakowski and was later a post-graduate here at Queen’s, learning much from James Dalton, John Caldwell and Denis Arnold. While lecturer in music at University College, Cork, he frequented courses given by Kenneth Glbert and L. F. Tagliavini and subsequently moved to Italy where he taught in Brescia and at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. He often travelled to teach and play in North America as well as Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Armenia, Poland and Ukraine. He directed choirs in Ireland, Italy and Armenia. He was teaching short-term at Innsbruck University, the Gnessin Institute in Moscow, and Lviv National Music Academy; he was also musician-in-residence at Harvard University’s Villa i Tatti in Florence. He now lives in France.
His editions include the new Bärenreiter complete keyboard works of Frescobaldi; amongst his writings are the chapter on Italy in the Cambridge Companion to the Organ and articles dealing with the 19-note cembalo cromatico, an instrument that also features in hs recordings.
30 October - Peter Barley
St mary’s cathedral, limerick
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847)
Sonata No. 6 in D minor Op. 65 No. 6
i. Choral; Andante sostenuto; Allegro molto ii. Fuga iii. Andante
John Blow (1649-1708)
Voluntary in G
Thomas Adams (1785-1858)
Organ Piece in C minor (1819)
[Maestoso]; Andante; [Allegro]
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Bach Allein Gott BWV 663 (from The Eighteen)
Dietrich Buxtehude (c. 1637-1707)
Praeludium in E minor BuxWV 142
Peter Barley is Organist and Choirmaster of St Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick. He is also a member of staff at the Limerick School of Music, where he teaches piano, organ and theory and is a staff accompanist.
Peter was previously Organist and Master of the Choristers at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. Peter began his career in London, where he was Director of Music at St Marylebone Church. He has also served as Director of the Edington Festival and as Chair of RSCM Ireland.
The foundations for his interest in choral and organ music were laid through studies at King’s College, Cambridge (where he was an organ scholar) and as a postgraduate student at the Royal Academy of Music, London. His organ teachers during this time were Nicolas Kynaston, the late Peter Hurford and the late Nicholas Danby.
As an organist, Peter has played at many UK venues including St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Bridgewater Hall. He has performed widely in Ireland, and whilst living and working in Canada he played in all the regular ‘noon-hour’ organ recital series in Toronto. He made his concerto debut in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1994. Peter has recently given solo recitals in St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, St Michael’s Church, Dun Laoghaire and Christ Church Bristol. Concerto performances in the past two seasons include Poulenc’s Organ Concerto with the RTE Concert Orchestra in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin and organ concertos by Handel and Rheinberger in a concert in Galway Cathedral.
6 November - George Herbert
New College, Oxford
Dietrich Buxtehude (c. 1637-1707)
Präludium in C, BuxWV 137
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Sonata no. 4 in E minor, BWV 528
i. Adagio
ii. Andante
iii. Un Poco Allegro
Spiritual, arr. Iain Farrington: Steal Away
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV 663
Whitlock
Scherzo
Wheeler, arr. Herbert
The Sweet Time Suite - Opening
Saint-Saëns
Improvisation no. 7
George was born in Manchester in 2001, and his passion for music was kindled in earnest when he became a chorister at Manchester Cathedral. George spent four years at St John’s College, Cambridge, first as an organ scholar studying Music and German, and latterly as Assistant Organist. He then spent a year working in London as a freelancer, including regularly at Westminster Abbey and English National Opera. He is now Assistant Organist at New College, where he assists in training and conducting the choir, and accompanies New College’s daily sung liturgy. He has a busy freelance life outside Oxford: he regularly sings with and accompanies Tenebrae, he works as a choral coach with Pimlico Musical Foundation and the Rodolfus Foundation, and he is an active organ recitalist. His first album as a piano accompanist, Venus & Adonis with soprano Grace Davidson, was recently released on Signum Classics, and in 2023 he won the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition.
13 November - Iestyn Evans
St James’s Spanish Place
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Fantasia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 537)
Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV 639)
Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele (BWV 654)
Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier (BWV 731)
Prelude & Fugue in E minor (BWV 548)
Iestyn Evans was Organ Scholar of Queen’s between 1995 and 1998.
Iestyn is Director of Music at St James's, Spanish Place, one of London's foremost Catholic churches, and of St Botolph without Bishopsgate in the city. In addition to this, Iestyn is school organist at the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, one of the country’s leading state schools.
Iestyn regularly performs as a soloist and accompanist in the UK and internationally, at venues which have included St John's Smith Square; Notre-Dame de Paris; St Patrick's, New York; Brussels Cathedral; Chartres Cathedral; Stephansdom, Vienna; St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town and St Peter’s, Rome. His discography includes eight CDs by the Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, a recording with the choir of St Etheldreda’s, Ely Place and a solo CD recorded at St James’s. Recent engagements include a concert as a piano accompanist in the Red House, Aldeburgh, and two concerts with the RPO Brass Quintet. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of Franck’s birth, Iestyn performed his complete organ works at St James’s in 2022.
As a conductor, Iestyn has put on liturgical performances of the complete Mass settings of Victoria at St James’s, and has conducted performances of Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony, Borodin’s Second Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony and Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony, as well as large-scale choral works including Handel’s Messiah and Judas Maccabaeus, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, and Mozart’s Requiem. He is the musical director of the Camden Choir.
After graduating from Queen’s, Iestyn studied with David Titterington at the Royal Academy of Music; past appointments have included organ scholarships at St Davids Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.
20 November - Claire Alsop
St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol
Kenneth Leighton
Paean
Dieterich Buxtehude
Praeludium in g minor BuxWV149
Emma Lou Diemer
Fiesta
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
Mein junges Leben hat ein End SwWV324
Olivier Messiaen
Les Anges (La Nativité)
Jehan Alain
Le Jardin Suspendu
Théodore Dubois
Toccata
CLAIRE ALSOP is a Bristol-based pianist and organist. After beginning her musical studies in Durham, she read music at Bristol University, whilst also holding the organ scholarship at Bristol Cathedral. On graduation, Claire was appointed organist of The Cheltenham Ladies’ College, and accompanist to the Cheltenham Bach Choir. She gained the FRCO diploma in 2006, winning the Turpin and Durrant prizes. Claire is currently the Organist and Assistant Director of Music at St Mary Redcliffe Church, accompanying the three Sunday choral services. As a freelance musician she enjoys a range of music-making, including teaching, accompanying and solo work, and has broadcast live on Radio 3 and BBC1, as well as musical theatre work and ABRSM examining. Claire is involved in a wide range of music education activities in Bristol and beyond, and loves having the opportunity to work with children at the beginning of their own musical journeys; recent projects have involved creating musical resources for curriculum music, and arranging music for primary orchestra workshops of 250 children. She creates much of the music for Bristol Beacon’s massed schools’ singing events, and leads the Bristol Beacon organ scholarship programme, which seeks to widen and diversify the pool of young people with the opportunity to learn the organ. She is a Senior Associate Teacher at Bristol University, teaching performance specialists and accompanying recitalists. During the Covid lockdown period, Claire streamed a daily live recital via the internet, which received over 20,000 views from across the globe. Recent performance venues include several cathedrals in northern Spain, the Gillian Lynne theatre in London’s West End, Bristol Hippodrome, Bath Abbey, and she was organist for the première performance of a new work by Richard Barnard, performed under Luke Jerram’s ‘Gaia’ in Bristol Cathedral.
27 November - Rudyard Cook
The Queen’s College, Oxford
Dietrich Buxtehude (c. 1637-1707)
Praeladium in g (BuxWV 149)
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Dies sind die heilgenzehn Gebot (BWV 678)
Valet will ich dir geben (BWV 736)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Fugue in A flat minor (WoO 8)
O Welt, ich muss dich lassen (Op.122, 3)
O wie selig seid ihr doch, ihr Frommen (Op.122, 6)
O Welt, ich muss dich lassen (Op.122, 11)
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude and Fugue in C (BWV 547)
4 December - tingshuo yang
St john’s College, Cambridge
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Fuga sopra il Magnificat BWV733
Tingshuo Yang
Prelude on 'Veni Emmanuel'
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Wachet Auf BWV645
Dietrich Buxtehude (c. 1637-1707)
Nun komm der Heiden Heiland BuxWV211
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Nun komms
Marcel Dupre (1886-1971)
from Vepres du commun des fetes de la Sainte Vierge:
1. Magnificat 1: My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord
2. Magnificat 2: For Behold from Henceforth All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed
3. Magnificat 3: And His Mercy Is on Them That Fear Him Throughout All Generations
4. Magnificat 4: He Hath Put Down the Mighty from Their Seat (Cantilena)
5. Magnificat 5: He Remembring His Mercy Hath Holpen His Servant Israel
6. Magnificat 6: Gloria (Finale)
Tingshuo Yang is a pianist, organist, and composer. Born in China in 2004, he showed an early passion for music. He studied piano in the UK from 2012 to 2016 at the Royal College of Music Junior Department and at the Conservatoire Luxembourg from 2017 to 2021. He received a music scholarship to Eton College in 2018. Since 2023, he has been the Junior Organ Scholar at the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge, pursuing a BA in music.
He made his solo piano debut with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra in April 2019 and opened the ‘Young Luxembourgish Classical Talents’ recital series in Berlin in 2020. His debut piano album, J.S. Bach: Clavieruebung Part I: Partitas, was released on Luxembourg Classics in June 2024. In early July, it became the album of the week on Radio 100,7 in Luxembourg and received outstanding reviews from industry leading media, such as Pizzicato, which described the recordings as 'timelessly beautiful' and 'spontaneously creative', and hailed by Luc Boentges for its transparent nature, especially when dealing with the polyphony.
As an organist and composer, Tingshuo achieved his ARCO in organ playing in 2021 and was Highly Commended in the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition in 2024 and 2023. He won first prize in the D’Overbroekes composition competition, was runner-up in the RCO Composition Competition, and was shortlisted for the BBC/NCEM Young Composers Award in 2024.
Tingshuo has received guidance from Geoffrey Govier, Jean Muller, Jenny Stern, Philip Scriven, Colin Walsh, Claude Lenners, and David Hill. He was the organ scholar at the Charles Wood Festival in Armagh in 2023 and accompanies the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge for its daily services under Director of Music Christopher Gray.
