The following list contains information about organists at Church of England cathedrals in England.
The cathedrals of England have a long history of liturgical music, often played on or accompanied by the organ. The role of the cathedral organist is a salaried appointment, the organist often also serving as choirmaster. There is often also an assistant organist and an organ scholar.
Birmingham, St Philip's Cathedral Organists at St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham have included composers Charles John Blood Meacham, Richard Yates Mander and Rupert Jeffcoat.
Directors of Music
1715 Barnabas Gunn 1733? William de St. Thunes 1735? John Ohio Eversman 1765 Jeremiah Clark (afterwards organist of Worcester Cathedral) 1803 Bishop Simms 1829 Henry Simms 1871 Charles John Blood Meacham (later organist of St George's Church, Edgbaston) 1888 Richard Yates Mander (later organist of All Saints' Church, Ryde) 1898 A. G. Thompson 1901 Arthur Elmore (later organist of St Mary the Virgin, Acocks Green) 1906 Edwin Stephenson (later organist of St Margaret's, Westminster) 1914 William Frederick Dunnill (formerly organist of St Mary's Church, Nottingham) 1936 Willis Grant (later professor of music, University of Bristol) 1958 Thomas Tunnard 1968 Roy Massey (later organist of Hereford Cathedral) 1974 David Bruce-Payne 1978 Hubert Best 1986 Marcus Huxley 2018 David Hardie (Head of Music)
Assistant Organists
1907–1914 T. Appleby Matthews 1950–1951 Harrison Oxley (later Organist of St Edmundsbury Cathedral) 1954–1956 John K. Nicholas Malcolm Hicks 1966–1968 Roland L. Keen (later Director of Music at Wroxall Abbey School) 1968–1974 John Pryer Hubert Best (later Organist) 1978–1979 Gary Cole Timothy Storey 1986–1995 Rosemary Field 1995–1997 Rupert Jeffcoat (later Director of Music at Coventry Cathedral and St John's Cathedral, Brisbane) 1997–2004 Christopher Allsop (later Assistant Organist at Worcester Cathedral and Organist at Eton College) 2004–2010 Stuart Nicholson (later Organist and Master of Choristers at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin) 2010–2014 Tim Harper 2014–2018 David Hardie (later Head of Music, Birmingham Cathedral) 2019– Ashley Wagner (Assistant Head of Music)
Blackburn Cathedral Notable organists at Blackburn Cathedral have included Charles Hylton Stewart, John Bertalot and Gordon Stewart.
Directors of Music
1828–1831 Joseph John Harris (later organist of Manchester Cathedral) 1832 R. Nimmo (temporary) 1832–1838 Henry Smart 1838–1840 John Bishop (formerly organist of St. Paul's Church, Cheltenham) 1840–1848 William Robinson 1848–1858 Joseph Rolley (from Church of St George, Bolton) 1858–1863 Charles Greenwood 1863–1870 James H. Robinson 1870–1882 Thomas S. Hayward (previously organist of St Peter's Collegiate Church Wolverhampton, afterwards organist of Wesleyan Chapel, Mornington Road, SouthportBlackburn Standard – Saturday 18 February 1882) 1882–1888 Walter Handel Thorley 1888–1900 James H. Rooks 1900The Musical Times. 1 December 1900–1912 Christie Green (afterwards organist of Holy Trinity Church, Coventry) 1912–1914 Richard Henry Coleman 1914–1916 Charles Hylton Stewart (afterwards organist of Rochester Cathedral and St George's Chapel, Windsor) 1916–1939 Herman Brearley 1939–1964 Thomas Lucas Duerden 1964–1983 John Bertalot 1983–1994 David Anthony Cooper 1994–1998 Gordon Stewart 1998–2011 Richard Tanner (from All Saints' Church, Northampton) 2011–2019 Samuel Hudson 2019– John Robinson
Organist in Residence
2022-2025 John Hosking (formerly Director of Music, Holy Trinity, Southport)
Assistant Directors of Music
Justin Waters James Thomas Benjamin Saunders Robert Costin David Goodenough Tim Cooke 2000–2006 Greg Morris 2006–2012 James Davy 2012–2021 Shaun Turnbull
Bradford Cathedral Organists at Bradford Cathedral have included the following.
Organist and Master of the Choristers
c1861–1893 Absalom Rawnsley Swaine 1893–1939 Henry Coates 1939–1963 Charles Hooper 1963–1981 Keith Vernon Rhodes 1982–1986 Geoffrey John Weaver 1986–2002 Alan Graham Horsey 2003–2011 Andrew Teague
Organist & Director of Music
2012–2016 Alexander Woodrow 2017–2023 Alexander Berry 2023-2025 Graham Thorpe (later Assistant Master of Music at Norwich Cathedral) 2025- Geoffrey Woollatt
Cathedral Organist
2011–2014 Paul Bowen
Sub-Organist & Assistant Director of Music
1957-1960 Charles Edmondson 1970-1976 Brian Tetley 1976-1979 Barry Lancaster 1979 Jonathan Newell (acting) 1980 Neil Maddox 1984-2004 Martin Derek Baker 1997-2000 Jonathan Kingston 2004-2011 Paul Bowen 2009-2012 David Condry 2012-2016 Jonathan Eyre 2016-2018 Jon Payne 2019-2023 Graham Thorpe 2023-2024 Anthony Gray 2025-2026 William Campbell (later Assistant Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral)
Associate Organist
2018–2019 Ed Jones
Bristol Cathedral Organists at Bristol Cathedral have included the writer and composer Percy Buck and the conductor Malcolm Archer.
Organists
1542 Thomas Denny 1588 Elway Bevin 1638 Arthur Phillips 1639 Thomas Deane 1680 Paul Heath 1724 Nathaniel Priest 1734 James Morley 1756 George Coombes 1759 Edward Higgins 1765 George Coombes 1769 Edward Rooke 1773 Samuel Mineard 1778 Richard Langdon 1781 Rice Wasbrough 1825 John Davies Corfe 1876 George Riseley 1899 Percy Carter Buck 1901 Hubert Hunt 1946 Reginald Alwyn Surplice 1949 Clifford Harker 1983 Malcolm Archer 1990 Christopher Brayne 1998 Mark Lee
Assistant Organists
1856–1860 John Barrett 1862–1876 George Riseley Albert Edward New 1888–1892 J.H. Fulford 1902 Arthur S. Warrell 1920–1941 Geoffrey Leonard Mendham 1956-1959 Lionel Pike Stephen Taylor John Jenkin 1980–1986 Martin Schellenberg (later Director of Music of Christchurch Priory) 1986–1989 Tony Pinel 1989–1991 Claire Hobbs 1991–1994 Ian Ball 1994–2001 David Hobourn 2001– Paul Walton
Canterbury Cathedral Organists and Assistant Organists at Canterbury Cathedral have included composers Clement Charlton Palmer, Gerald Hocken Knight and Philip Moore and musical directors Sidney Campbell, Allan Wicks and Stephen Darlington.Toby Huitson, The Organs of Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury: Cathedral Enterprises, Ltd., 2001. .Thornsby, Frederick W., ed. (1912) Dictionary of Organs and Organists. Bournemouth: Logan; p. 276.
Organists
1407 John Mounds 1420 William Stanys 1445 John Cranbroke 1499 Thomas Seawall 1534 John Wodynsborowe 1547 William Shelbye (aka Selby) 1553 Thomas Bull 1564 William Shelbye 1583 Matthew Godwin 1590 Thomas Stores 1598 George Marson 1631 Valentine Rother 1640 Thomas Tunstall 1661 Thomas Gibbes 1669 Richard Chomley 1692 Nicholas Wotton 1697 William Porter 1698 Daniel Henstridge 1736 William Raylton 1757 Samuel Porter 1803 Highmore Skeats 1831 Thomas Evance Jones 1873 William Henry Longhurst 1898 Harry Crane Perrin 1908 Clement Charlton Palmer 1937 Gerald Hocken Knight 1953 Douglas Edward Hopkins 1956 Sidney Campbell 1961 Allan Wicks 1988 David Flood 2020 David Newsholme (acting) 2021 David Newsholme
Assistant Organists
1836 William Henry Longhurst 1873 John Browning Lott 1875 Yoku Myles Bossman 1884 Herbert Austin Fricker 1892 J. Sterndale Grundy 1906 W. T. Harvey 1909 Frank Charles Butcher 1918 Rene SoamesWho's Who in Music; 4th ed. 1962; p. 197. 1926 ? 1936 Henry Frank Cole 1938 ? 1953 John Malcolm Tyler 1956 Gwilym Isaac 1964 Stephen Crisp 1968 Philip Moore 1974 Stephen Darlington 1978 David Flood 1986 Michael Harris 1997 Timothy Noon 2001 Matthew Martin 2005 Robert Patterson 2008 John Robinson 2010 Simon Lawford (acting) 2011 David Newsholme 2020 Adrian Bawtree (acting) 2022 Jamie Rogers
Second Assistant Organists
2015 Adrian Bawtree 2020 Jamie Rogers (acting) 2022 Adrian Bawtree 2022 Robin Walker
Carlisle Cathedral
Notable organists at Carlisle Cathedral have included the composer, astronomer and mathematician Thomas Greatorex and founder of the Royal School of Church Music, Sir Sydney Nicholson.
Organists
1560 Thomas Southick 1587 Robert James 1610 James Pearson 1630 Robert Dalton 1663 John How 1693 Timothy How 1734 Abraham Dobinson 1749 Charles Pick 1781 Thomas Greatorex (later organist at Westminster Abbey). 1785 Thomas Hill 1833 Richard Ingham 1841 James Stimpson (later Birmingham City Organist and organist of St Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham) 1842 Henry Edmund Ford 1903 E. G. Mercer (acting) 1904 Sydney Nicholson (acting)(later Sir Sydney Nicholson organist of Westminster Abbey and founder of the Royal School of Church Music) 1910 Frederick William Wadely 1960 Robert Andrew Seivewright 1991 Jeremy Suter 2017-2026 Mark Duthie 2026 Ian Wicks (acting)
Assistant Organists
1900–1902 Stanley G. P. Stubbs (later Acting Organist) 1915–1919 Charles Frederick Eastwood 1932–1934 G. F. Stuart 1940–1945 Keith Burton-NicksonWho's who in Music. Fourth Edition. 1962. p. 31. William L. Snowdon Ifor James 1970–1973 Christopher Rathbone 1974–1985 Hugh Davies 1985–1987 Andrew Shaw 1987–1989 Andrew Sackett 1989–1995 Ian HareIan Hare. 1995–1999 Charles Harrison (later organist of Chichester Cathedral) 2000–2005 David Gibbs 2005–2008 John Robinson (Organist and Choir Director) 2008–present Edward Taylor (formerly Assistant Organist to Ely Cathedral Girls' Choir)
Chelmsford Cathedral Notable organists at Chelmsford Cathedral have included Stanley Vann and Philip Ledger.
Masters of the Music
182? Charles Ambrose 1876 Frederick Frye 1945 Roland Middleton (later Organist of Chester Cathedral) 1949 Stanley Vann (later Master of the Music at Peterborough Cathedral) 1953 Derrick Edward Cantrell (later Organist of Manchester Cathedral) 1962 Philip Ledger (later Director of Music at King's College, Cambridge) 1965 John Willam Jordan 1981 Graham Elliott 1999 Peter Nardone (later Organist and Director of Music at Worcester Cathedral) 2012 James Davy [job title changed to Organist and Master of the Choristers in 2013] 2023 Thomas Corns (Interim Director of Music) 2024 Emma Gibbins
Assistant Organists
Geoffrey Becket 1963 John Jordan 1966 Peter Cross 1968 David Sparrow 1986 Timothy Allen 1991 Neil Weston
Assistant Directors of Music
1999 Edward Wellman 2003 Robert Poyser (later Director of Music at Beverley Minster) 2008 Tom Wilkinson (later Organist at the University of St Andrews, Scotland) 2009 Oliver Waterer (later Organist at St. Davids Cathedral and Selby Abbey) 2013 Laurence Lyndon-Jones 2019 Hilary Punnett 2023 Samuel Bristow
Chester Cathedral Notable organists of Chester Cathedral include the composers Robert White and John Sanders and the recording artist Roger Fisher.Cathedral Organists. John E West. 1899.The Succession of Organists. Watkins Shaw. 1991.
Organists
1541 John Brycheley 1551 Thomas Barnes 1558 Richard Saywell 1567 Robert White 1570 Robert Stevenson 1599 Thomas Bateson 1609 John Alien 1613 Michael Done 1614 Thomas Jones 1637 Richard Newbold 1642 Randolph Jewitt 1661 Rev. Peter Stringer 1673 John Stringer 1686 William Key 1699 John Mounterratt 1705 Edmund White 1715 Samuel Davies 1726 Benjamin Worrall 1727 Edmund Baker 1765 Edward Orme 1776 John Bailey 1803 Edward Bailey 1823 George Black 1824 Thomas Haylett 1841 Frederick Gunton 1877 Joseph Cox Bridge 1925 John Thomas Hughes 1930 Charles Hylton Stewart 1932 Malcolm Courtenay Boyle 1949 James Roland Middleton 1964 John Sanders 1967 Roger Fisher 1997 David Poulter 2008 Philip Rushforth
Assistant Organists
1857 Mr. Munns 1872–1876 Herbert Stephen Irons 1876–1877 Joseph Cox Bridge (then organist) ????–1890 John Gumi 1893–1925 John Thomas Hughes (then organist) 1925–1926 Guillaume Ormond (later organist of Truro Cathedral) 1934–1944 James Roland Middleton (later organist of Chelmsford Cathedral) 1944–1947 George Guest (later organist of St John's College, Cambridge)