In 2006, he was appointed Director of Music at the prominent church
of All Saints Northampton a position he held until May 2014, and in
2007 he took on the position of Musical Director of the Northampton
Bach Choir. With these choirs he has commissioned nearly 100 new
works, including compositions by David Bednall, Sir Richard Rodney
Bennett, David Briggs, Stephen Cleobury, Jonathan Dove, Michael
Finnissy, Stephen Hough, Francis Jackson and James MacMillan. The
choirs have also toured extensively, from Canada and the United
States to Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and
Italy. He has also made a number of well-reviewed recordings, most
recently Notre Père (2012), Carol of Joy (2011), and
Omnes Sancti (2010) with the Choirs of All Saints, and
Requiem Reflections (2017),
I was Glad! (2012) and Congaudeat!
(2010) with the Northampton Bach Choir. A second Christmas disc,
Be Merry!, featuring seasonal works by contemporary American
composers sung by the Choirs of All Saints and the Northampton Bach
Choir was released in November 2014.
As an organ recitalist he is celebrated for the diversity of his
programmes, which often encompass music from the fifteenth century
right through traditional repertoire up to Jazz and Blues-inspired
works. He has performed on BBC One, BBC Radio 3 and 4, and toured
throughout Europe, Canada and the United States. In recent years he
has developed a series of insightful lecture-recitals which have
explored the works of Buxtehude, Messiaen, Sibelius and the
acclaimed series “Back to Bach”, which has drawn in a new audience
to the organ.
He is also an active composer and his studies at university led to
the award of a Britten-Pears Scholarship to study with Judith Weir;
this in turn led to the commissioning and performance of his first
Piano Quintet at the Purcell Room at the South Bank Centre, London.
Whilst his most prominent compositions are written in a very modern
idiom, he is equally at home writing melodic and accessible works
for groups of all ages and abilities. His works have been performed
at many of the major concert halls, cathedrals and churches across
the country.
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