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The English organist, George Herbert, became a chorister at Manchester Cathedral and his passion for music was kindled in earnest. He joined Chetham’s School of Music at this time too (September 2010-July 2019), where he studied the trumpet after leaving the cathedral choir. He spent 4 years at St John’s College, Cambridge, first as an organ scholar studying Music and German (September 2019-2022), and latterly as Assistant Organist (2022-2023). In these roles, he accompanied St John’s College Choir in its daily sung liturgy, as well as its broadcasts, recordings and tours. He also regularly directed the choir, including live on BBC Radio 3 in its Advent Carol Service in 2021. As Assistant Organist, he was musical director of Aquila, the college’s all-female a cappella group.
George Herbert is now the Assistant Director of Music at the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace. As an undergraduate, he was a pianist in Pembroke College’s Lieder Scheme, taking regular classes with Joseph Middleton. In 2021 he won first prize and the accompanist’s prize in Clare College’s biennial song competition, and in 2023 he won the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition. He is a passionate environmentalist, and wrote his final year dissertation on 1980s East German environmental policy and foreign relations. He is now living in London and working as a freelance pianist, organist and director. He works regularly as an accompanist with the Royal Academy of Music, Kantos Chamber Choir and Tenebrae (Director: Nigel Short), and has enjoyed recent collaborations with the Gabrieli Consort & Players (Director: Paul McCreesh) (Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius), the Royal Northern College of Music (Leonard Bernstein’s Mass) and English National Opera (Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes). He looks forward to upcoming organ recitals at Westminster Abbey and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. |
