This month’s organist is James McVinnie

2nd June 2024

Fancy in C fa ut O Gibbons
Pièce d’Orgue BWV 572 J S Bach
Fantazia of foure parts O Gibbons
Dies sind die heiligen zehen Gebot BWV 678 J S Bach
Fancy in Gamutt flatt O Gibbons
Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor BWV 582 J S Bach

Through his boundless approach to music making, his collaborations with a vast array of artists from many different walks of musical life, his innovative programming and captivating musicianship of the highest order, James McVinnie has carved out a unique career as an organist and keyboard player.

He has had major concerto and solo works written for him by Nico Muhly, Gabriella Smith, Philip Glass, Tristan Perich, Tom Jenkinson/Squarepusher, artist Martin Creed, David Chalmin, David Lang, Richard Reed Parry, Bryce Dessner, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Darkstar, amongst many others.

He directs the James McVinnie Ensemble, a collective of virtuoso keyboardists dedicated to exploring work often preoccupied with political themes by contemporary and emerging composers. The ensemble’s roots go back to 2017 with a performance at London’s Barbican Centre of Music in Twelve Parts by Philip Glass—the only performance in the piece’s history given by anyone other than the Philip Glass Ensemble. 2022 season featured performances of Julius Eastman Gay Guerrilla & Claude McKay’s 1922 collection of poetry Harlem Shadows in a collaboration with the London Review of Books at London’s Bold Tendencies. New works by Gabriella Smith & inti figgis-vizueta are planned for the Ensemble in 2025 and beyond.

2023/24 season includes the premiere of Eden Interstates by Samuel Adams with Los Angeles Philharmonic; McVinnie’s first hybrid piano & organ solo programme at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles; Breathing Forests — an organ concerto about the complex relationship between humans, forests, climate change, and fire (written by Gabriella Smith for McVinnie in 2022) with San Francisco Symphony/Esa Pekka Salonen as part of California Festival & with the Cleveland Orchestra/John Adams; Infinity Gradient (written by Tristan Perich for McVinnie in 2021) for organ and 100 speakers in 1bit audio at Southbank Centre; Register (concerto for organ and orchestra written by Nico Muhly for McVinnie in 2018) with Helsinki Philharmonic/Pekka Kuusisto inaugurating the Helsinki Music Centre’s 124 stop Rieger Organ. Shadow Volumes, a new work for solo organ by Edmund Finnis is planned for 2025/26 season.

McVinnie is currently an artist in residence at London’s Southbank Centre where this and next season he gives five performances, each showcasing different facets of his musical personality.

Admission to all recitals is free, with a retiring collection.