In this edition of ‘Notes from an Organist’ we discover more about them, and what to expect from their recital, including playing the violin since being only three years old; working with the Chineke! Orchestra; and winning a composition competition.Could you introduce yourself, how you got into music / become an organist and your musical journey to where you are today?Hi, I’m Will and I’m currently the Sub-Organist and Assistant Director of Music here at Bradford Cathedral. I initially started playing the violin as a three year old and subsequently took up the piano and trumpet. My first experience of the organ was through my hometown church (St. Mary’s Catholic Church, West Croydon) when I was 10; the church was in need of an organist for a Good Friday service and I was asked to play for this. I have been transfixed ever since and started organ lessons as a music scholar at Wellington College, Berkshire aged 14. Since then I have held posts at Guildford, Canterbury and Leeds Cathedrals as well as Leeds Minster before starting here in Bradford in January 2025.What can people expect from your recital at Bradford Cathedral?I’ve tried to pick music in a range of different styles, with some things the audience may or may not have heard before (including a piece of my own)! I hope there is something in this programme for everyone!Why do you enjoy playing the organ?I love the organ because it is so versatile; it has such a wide palette of sounds and it’s always so fun finding new combinations on each organ us organists have the privilege of playing. I also enjoy playing in a range of different contexts; a lot of my work at the cathedral centres around accompanying the choir but I also really enjoy playing solo repertoire and in orchestral music too!Do you have a particular favourite piece out of those you are playing?A tough one… If I had to pick, it would probably be the Stanford – I learnt the whole of his Second Organ Sonata for the Centenary of his death last year. John Hosking played the first movement beautifully a few weeks ago and I’m excited to close my recital with the final movement!This season’s theme is ‘Music in Times of War’. How are you reflecting this in your programme?My main links with this season’s theme are seen in the Walton, Barber and Stanford.Outside of the Coronation Marches some very exciting choral music (including my favourite anthem ever The Twelve), Walton wrote music for a lot of films during the Second World War. The Prologue from A Wartime Sketchbook is the Title music for one of these films called ‘Went the day well?’ from 1942. Barber’s Adagio for Strings is believed to be one of the very few pieces of American music to be played in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Stanford composed his Five Organ Sonatas during the First World War and the Second Sonata (subtitled Eroica) paid homage to the struggle of the French Army during the Battle of Verdun, and the last movement in particular speaks of the destruction of the medieval Rheims Cathedral.What are your hopes or plans musically for 2025?Mainly we have some very exciting things happening with the Cathedral Choir in 2025; namely a concert recorded on BBC Radio 2 with the Black Dyke Band (in April), Evensong at St. Paul’s Cathedral for the Clergy Support trust, recording for Songs of Praise and our choir tour (all in May), and topping off this year with a live broadcast on BBC One for Christmas Day. Outside of this I have some more recitals, some work with the Chineke! Orchestra and continuing my work as accompanist of Wetherby Choral Society. If I get any time outside of that I’ll see if I can start playing some of my other instruments more frequently!You recently started as our new Assistant Director of Music. How has your time at the Cathedral been so far, and what have been your highlights?I’ve had a wonderful time working here so far; the first half term was particularly busy, which included some exciting things including the Legal Service and the second session of the Cathedral Choir’s recording in collaboration with the Black Dyke Band. It’s such a friendly environment and I’ve found it really easy to slot into the team!You previously worked at Leeds Cathedral – what was that like?Playing for services at Leeds Cathedral was great fun; it was very different to what I’m doing now as of course it is a Catholic Cathedral, but this opened my eyes to so much new repertoire and particularly how important the plainsong tradition is within the Catholic Church. I also worked as a Keyboard Tutor for Organ and Piano on the Diocese of Leeds Music Keyboard Studies programme which involved working with and teaching a huge number of students each week.You’re also a keen violinist and trumpeter. What attracted you to those instruments?I grew up in a family with five older sisters (yes imagine being the youngest and the only boy of 6 children…), and each of them learnt an instrument. Of these instruments violin and trumpet were among them hence me starting both of these instruments eventually. I was in both the National Childrens and National Youth Orchestras of Great Britain as a violinist growing up which led to my first performance at the BBC Proms in Summer 2017 and when I get the chance to I still play my violin with the Chineke! Orchestra (although nowadays I usually play orchestral keyboard parts with them!). A combination of my trumpet knowledge and my complete boredom during the first lockdown led to me buying a trombone and strangely I play that more than my trumpet now!Last year you wrote the joint winning entry of the Advent composition competition. What was that like to be involved in?It was quite the experience having a piece of your own performed in a building like Blackburn Cathedral. I wrote a chorale prelude based on the Advent chorale ‘Wachet auf, ruft uns die stimme,’ and the piece was performed as part of their Advent Procession on Advent Sunday in 2024. I think the piece really suited the vast acoustics of the space (it’s a very slow moving piece) and it contributed to a very special occasion for me. Funnily enough, I entered one of their previous competitions but my comprehension skills clearly failed me in reading the brief…Finally, how would you sum up your upcoming recital at Bradford Cathedral?I hope there’s something for everyone in this recital whether the music is known or new to the audience; I’ve picked a programme of music I really enjoy playing and I hope I can show that in the performance of these great works!You can join us on Wednesday 26th March at 1pm to hear William’s organ recital, with an optional £4 buffet lunch beforehand at 12:30pm. You can find out more about him on his Instagram page.You can discover more about our organ recital season on our dedicated page.Submit a Comment
Bradford Cathedral will be marking Mothering Sunday on 30th March 2025, and the clergy will be inviting the congregation to “clyp” the cathedral building at the end of the service. The Very Revd Andy Bowerman, Dean of Bradford, says:"Clypping is an old English word which means embracing. During our Mothering Sunday service, as we give thanks for our Mother Church, everyone is encouraged to form a circle outside, face the church, and hold hands, and so clyppe - or embrace - her. “It is a way of showing our thanks to God for our Church and asking him to bless it and all that happens in and through her. It perhaps also reminds us that we are joined together as a community to weave Jesus into the rich and diverse fabric of the City of Bradford and beyond." The Revd Pete Gunstone, Minor Canon for Worship and Nurture, says:“Mothering Sunday has come to be known as ‘Mother’s Day’, a day on which mothers and the gift of mothering in all its forms is celebrated. In the Christian tradition, Mothering Sunday is a day when Christians celebrate the mothering role of the Church as the Body of Christ. The imagery of baptism is one of being reborn, and that rebirth in baptism is the work of the Holy Spirit, operating through the mothering of the Church. “Moreover, Christians play an essential role in each other’s lives as we nurture each other to grow and become mature in Christ, just as a mother does for her children. So, on Mothering Sunday this year, we will be celebrating the role that the Church - the fellowship of all those who are following Jesus Christ - plays in bringing us to faith, and nurturing us in faith.” All are welcome to the Mothering Sunday Choral Eucharist on Sunday 30th March 2025 at 10:30am. The service will also be streamed live on the Bradford Cathedral YouTube channel and Facebook page.
This intimate and resonant new show tells the true story of a young composer whose tenacity burned brightly even as the world around him collapsed. Mostly taking place at the cusp of the Second World War, this production follows the life of a magnetic musician and his family as they face an impossible choice. As war engulfs Europe, Gideon’s expansive world contracts—from the concert halls of Prague to the confined walls of Terezín, a garrison town turned into a propaganda tool. Within its walls, where music is both solace and deception, its prisoners struggle with an urgent question: is art an act of resistance, a place of refuge, or part of the lie that helps to oppress them? Lead creative producers Richard Fay and Daniel Mawson have re-envisioned David Fligg’s biography of Gideon Klein, “Don’t Forget About Me” and 2016 theatrical “Gideon Klein: Portrait of a Composer”. With a heartfelt original new script written by Mawson and a dynamic ensemble of 8 actors and musicians, the show aims to shed light on a dark and curious past that is often forgotten. In a world polarised by politics, faith, and identity, where truth itself can be contested, Gideon, speaks to 2025 with an unsettling urgency. Gideon immerses the audience in the rhythms of history, where melodies rise in defiance and fade into silence. Some create to resist, others to endure, while for some, music becomes a fragile thread between remembering and forgetting. Underscored by a live chamber ensemble reconstructing Klein’s compositions with the music that inspired him and his contemporaries, the play captures the fragility of freedom as history moves faster than those living through it. The show reveals intimate snapshots of everyday life under an increasingly brutal regime…the kind of fleeting joys and quiet devastations that remind us why we fight to survive. Gideon runs from the 3rd -5th April at Bradford Cathedral as part of Bradford 2025 City Of Culture. It tours 8th-12th April to Chester, Wilmslow, Laxton, and Manchester. It is supported with public funding by Arts Council England. CW: This show contains reference to genocide/holocaust, antisemitism, death, murder, violence, nazis and may depict some of these elements. Gideon: a play with music will be held at Bradford Cathedral from Thursday 3rd – Saturday 5th April 2025, with performances at 7:45pm each day and a 5pm matinee on the Saturday. Tickets are available at http://www.gideonplay.co.uk
