D'arcy Trinkwon

[Alsa]

One name I would add to the list of outstanding British improvisers is Mark Wardell, assistant organist at Chichester. I heard him improvise a suite during a recital at Winchester Cathedral a couple of months ago and was amazed at his skill and sheer talent.

 

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Same for Simon Johnson at St Albans. He produced a Cd recording of a meditation service/recital he did at St Albans a couple of years ago interspersed with readings - fabulous!

[Jeremy Jones]

On the whole French players aren't that interested in playing in England because their repertoire and our organs (in our relatively small churches cathedrals and their acoustics) just don't match well. And when they do come they clearly don't understand how the organs here work so they play on the full organ all the time - and that's before we get into predalboards and stop control issues

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I think this is a fair point. Lincoln's series of Celebrity Organ Recitals often fields a number of players from France and Germany and the results tend to confirm Alsa's point. There are a small number of top European players such as Daniel Roth, Olivier Latry, Lionel Rogg, Hans Fagius who know how to handle a British organ. Otherwise, though, for somewhere like Lincoln your best bet is go when Colin Walsh is playing. That's what you might call a 'home run'!