In 1982, Birch became Director of Music at Temple Church. Two years later, he was appointed to the role of Curator-Organist at the Royal Albert Hall, a position he held until his death. In the posts at the Temple Church and the Royal Albert Hall, Dr Birch was the successor to Sir George Thalben-Ball. Birch was, in addition, the long-serving organist for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded widely, particularly in orchestral repertoire. He had, earlier, served with great distinction as accompanist and organist to the Royal Choral Society working closely with Sir Malcolm Sargent.
john, birch, musician, confused, with, john, burch, musician, john, anthony, birch, july, 1929, april, 2012, british, organist, choral, director, educated, trent, college, derbyshire, left, july, 1947, study, royal, college, music, london, 1953, became, organi. Not to be confused with John Burch musician John Anthony Birch 9 July 1929 28 April 2012 1 2 3 was a British organist and choral director He was educated at Trent College Derbyshire and left in July 1947 to study at the Royal College of Music London In 1953 he became Organist and Master of the Choristers at a prominent Anglo Catholic church All Saints Margaret Street London In 1958 Birch moved to Chichester to be Organist and Master of the Choristers at Chichester Cathedral During his time at the Cathedral he worked closely with Dean Walter Hussey in the commissioning of new choral works for the Cathedral Choir including pieces from composers Leonard Bernstein William Walton Lennox Berkeley William Albright Bryan Kelly and Herbert Howells In 1959 Birch was appointed as a Professor of Organ at the Royal College of Music where he continued to lecture until 1997 He was one of the founders of the revived Southern Cathedrals Festival with his colleagues at Salisbury and Winchester Cathedrals in 1960 4 Birch was University Organist at the University of Sussex from 1967 to 1994 and worked as a Visiting Lecturer in Music from 1971 to 1983 5 His pupils included organist Stuart Nicholson tenor Rogers Covey Crump and composers Adrian Jack and Robert Prizeman In 1982 Birch became Director of Music at Temple Church Two years later he was appointed to the role of Curator Organist at the Royal Albert Hall a position he held until his death In the posts at the Temple Church and the Royal Albert Hall Dr Birch was the successor to Sir George Thalben Ball Birch was in addition the long serving organist for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded widely particularly in orchestral repertoire He had earlier served with great distinction as accompanist and organist to the Royal Choral Society working closely with Sir Malcolm Sargent John Birch held an honorary MA from the University of Sussex and the Lambeth degree of Doctor of Music John Birch died on 28 April 2012 aged 82 after suffering a stroke References Edit John Birch Daily Telegraph 29 April 2012 Retrieved 30 April 2012 John Birch obituary The Guardian 22 May 2012 John Birch Celebrated organist and master of choristers The Independent 25 May 2012 History of Chichester cathedral choir school of choristers ancient and modern Ofchoristers net 21 December 2004 Archived from the original on 10 February 2015 Retrieved 17 July 2014 1 Archived 20 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine Cultural officesPreceded byHorace Hawkins Organist and Master of the Choristers of Chichester Cathedral1958 1980 Succeeded byAlan Thurlow Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Birch musician amp oldid 1134004397, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
