JAMES
O’DONNELL
Biography
James O’Donnell
is Organist and Master of the Choristers of Westminster Abbey and is one of the
outstanding British musicians of his generation. After early studies at the Royal College of
Music, he was appointed organ scholar of Jesus College, Cambridge, where he took
a first-class degree in music and studied the organ with Peter Hurford, Nicolas
Kynaston and, subsequently, David Sanger. He served for five years as Assistant Master
of Music at Westminster Cathedral, succeeding as Master of Music at the age of
26. Under his 12-year leadership the
Choir of Westminster Cathedral consolidated its reputation as one of the finest
choirs of men and boys in the world, and won much praise and several awards for
its many recordings, notably the Gramophone magazine’s coveted “Record of the
Year” award (1998) for a Hyperion recording of Masses by Frank Martin and
Ildebrando Pizzetti.
In January 2000, James O’Donnell was
appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers of Westminster Abbey, where he
is responsible for the direction of the music at the daily choral services and
state occasions for which the Abbey is renowned. He directs the Abbey Choir in its programme of
concerts, tours, broadcasts and recordings, including visits in recent years to
the Far East, Denmark, Germany, Spain, the United States and, in October 2007,
Australia.
James
O’Donnell is internationally known as an organist, having appeared in concert
all over the world. He has played many times in the United States
and throughout Europe. He has appeared
at the BBC Proms and in many other festivals both at home and abroad and has
worked with some of the country’s leading orchestras and ensembles. He opened the Royal Festival Hall’s 50th
anniversary organ concert season (October 2003), and recent concerts have
included St-Sulpice,
Current as of September
2007