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The English organist, harpsichordist and conductor, Andrew Arthur, read Music at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, where he was also Organ Scholar, studying with Nicolas Kynaston, Jacques van Oortmerssen and Geoffrey Webber. During this time as an undergraduate he also served regularly as a volunteer lay-clerk in the chapel choir of St John’s College under Christopher Robinson. In 1997, upon graduating from Caius, he was appointed Acting Precentor of the College.
Andrew Arthur enjoys a reputation throughout Europe and the USA as a musician of exceptional versatility. Equally at home as a conductor, keyboard soloist, ensemble player and teacher, he combines all of these disciplines within his positions as Fellow and Director of Music at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and Affiliated Lecturer in the University's Faculty of Music. An acknowledged specialist in the music of the Baroque and Classical periods, Andrew is highly regarded on the concert platform.
Andrew Arthur is Associate Director of The Hanover Band; recent directorial engagements have included a UK chamber music tour for ‘Music in the Round’, five performances of J.S. Bach's St John Passion (BWV 245), a programme of solo cantatas in Ludlow and Hampton Court Palace with countertenor William Towers, J.S. Bach’s Six Motets (BWV 225-230) in Kingston Parish Church, and an orchestral tour of concerti and suites by J.S. Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann including appearances in the Festival des Cathedrales de Picardie, Amiens, France and the Brighton Early Music Festival. Future plans include directing a complete series of J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti (BWV 1046-1051) and a performance of George Frideric Handel's Messiah in Chichester Cathedral as part of the King James Bible 400th Anniversary celebrations. Andrew has also worked with The Hanover Band as a Principal soloist and continuo-player since 2000. Highlights include performances of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, Haydn's Harpsichord Concerto in D, G.F. Handel’s Organ Concerto ‘The Cuckoo and the Nightingale’ and numerous performances of J.S. Bach's Harpsichord Concerti and Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 (BWV 1050).
In 2006, Andrew Arthur was announced as the Principal Conductor of the Euterpe Baroque Consort (Director: Bart Rodyns) based in Antwerp, Belgium, with whom he regularly broadcasts on live radio for KLARA. Recent concert engagements include Biber's Missa Bruxellensis, Antonio Vivaldi's Stabat Mater, Le Quattro Stagioni and seven performances of Monteverdi's Vespro de la Beata Virgine 1610, including appearances at the prestigious Festival van Vlaanderen and Klara in het Paleis. He is also Musical Director of his own period-instrument ensemble and vocal consort, Orpheus Britannicus with whom he continues to explore chamber, vocal and choral repertoire from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Recent projects have included G.F. Handel’s Coronation Anthems with the London-based Chandos Chamber Choir (of whom he was Musical Director from 2002 to 2010), three contrasting choral programmes of 17th-century English verse anthems, German Romantic Motets and music by Samuel Wesley, together with instrumental programmes of J.S. Bach’s chamber music and Music from Georgian England.
Andrew Arthur’s solo keyboard engagements encompass organ, harpsichord and fortepiano literature. Alongside his regular appearances as a recitalist and concerto soloist, he remains in great demand as a continuo player with several of London’s leading period-instrument ensembles, working under such renowned conductors as Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Nicholas Kraemer, Bruno Weil and the late Sir Charles Mackerras. He has also worked regularly in partnership with the eminent Baroque violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch, engagements with whom include performances in the USA of J.S. Bach's complete works for violin and harpsichord and Biber's 'Mystery' sonatas, together with appearances in the UK at the Suffolk Villages Festival, Conway Hall, Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music, and the Wigmore Hall. He holds the position of Principal Organist & Harpsichordist at the Carmel Bach Festival in California, where he also sits on the Committee of Artistic Directors, and is currently involved in performing a complete cycle of J.S. Bach’s organ works and in directing a series of J.S. Bach's complete cantatas for solo voice. Over the last decade, his appearances as player, conductor and lecturer at the festival have been met with considerable critical acclaim.
Andrew Arthur appears frequently on Television and Radio broadcasts, and has played on numerous CD and DVD recordings for the BBC, ASV, Soli Deo Gloria, Opera Rara, Griffin and Priory Records, all of which have been met with enthusiastic praise in the musical Press. In 2007, he toured the UK performing the complete organ works of Dietrich Buxtehude, marking the composer's tercentenary year. As a conclusion to this tour, he recorded a double-CD entitled ‘The Buxtehude Influence’ – the first recording to be made on the fine Danish organ by Carsten Lund at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
Alongside his busy concert and teaching schedule, Andrew Arthur maintains a strong commitment to liturgical music, an interest nurtured initially through his early training as a Cathedral chorister and subsequently as organ scholar and Acting Precentor at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. From 2000 to 2008, Andrew held the position of Associate Director of Music at the world-famous Butterfield Church of All Saints, Margaret Street, in London’s West End. At present, in addition to his on-going work with the Chapel Choir at Trinity Hall, Andrew can be seen most Sunday mornings throughout the year either playing the organ or directing the professional choir at the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula, HM Tower of London. |
