For our biggest event of the year, at 7.30pm on Friday 21st June we will be welcoming back our old friend and maestro David Briggs to present a stunning choral and organ concert celebrating the marvellous music that has been associated with Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The concert will consist of an organ recital featuring some of the best-loved French organ music and will conclude with Vierne’s Messe Solennelle sung by the Farrant Singers.
David Briggs is an internationally renowned organist whose performances are acclaimed for their musicality, virtuosity, and ability to excite and engage audiences of all ages. With an extensive repertoire spanning five centuries, he is known across the globe for his brilliant organ transcriptions of symphonic music by composers such as Mahler, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Bruckner, Ravel, and Bach. Fascinated by the art of Improvisation since a child, David also frequently performs improvisations to silent films such as Phantom of the Opera, Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Nosferatu, Jeanne d'Arc, Metropolis, as well as a variety of Charlie Chaplin films.
At the age of 17, David obtained his FRCO (Fellow of the Royal College of Organists) diploma, winning all the prizes and the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. From 1981-84 he was the Organ Scholar at King's College, Cambridge, during which time he studied organ with Jean Langlais in Paris. The first British winner of the Tournemire Prize at the St Albans International Improvisation Competition, he also won the first prize in the International Improvisation Competition at Paisley. Subsequently David held positions at Hereford, Truro and Gloucester Cathedrals. He was Artist-in-Residence at St James Cathedral, Toronto and is currently Artist-in-Residence at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York City.
The Farrant Singers are the longest-established chamber choir in Salisbury, with close links to the medieval city, the surrounding Wiltshire villages and the Cathedral, where the choir occasionally sings the services in place of the Cathedral Choir.