Andrew Arthur is Director of Music at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and maintains a busy schedule as a Tutor at the University, both in academic and performance studies. He read Music at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he also held the organ scholarship, and was subsequently appointed Acting Precentor. During this time, he studied the organ with Nicolas Kynaston, Geoffrey Webber and Jacques van Oortmerssen. An acknowledged specialist in the music of the Baroque and Classical periods, Andrew has gained a reputation throughout Europe and the USA as a musician of exceptional versatility.
He is Associate Director of The Hanover Band ‘one of the finest period-instrument orchestras worldwide’. His directorial engagements in the 2007/8 Season have included three performances of J.S. Bach's St John Passion in St Nicholas’ Church, Brighton and Chichester Cathedral, a programme of solo cantatas in Ludlow and Hampton Court Palace with countertenor William Towers, Bach’s Six Motets in Kingston Parish Church, and an orchestral tour of concerti and suites by Bach and Telemann, including appearances in the Festival des Cathedrales de Picardie, Amiens, France and the Brighton Early Music Festival. He has also worked with the Band as a Principal soloist and continuo-player since 2000. Recent highlights include performances of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, Haydn's Harpsichord Concerto in D, Handel’s Organ Concerto ‘The Cuckoo and the Nightingale’ and numerous performances of Bach's Harpsichord Concerto in D minor and Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 as part of the orchestra's 25th Anniversary UK Bach Tour.
In 2006, Andrew was announced as the Principal Conductor of the Euterpe Baroque Consort based in Antwerp, Belgium, with whom he has recently recorded two live radio broadcasts for KLARA, and conducted seven performances of Monteverdi's Vespro de la Beata Virgine 1610, including an appearance at the prestigious Festival van Vlaanderen. He is also Musical Director of both the Chandos Chamber Choir and of his own period-instrument ensemble Orpheus Britannicus.
Andrew’s solo keyboard engagements encompass organ, harpsichord and fortepiano literature, and he is 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, Sir Charles Mackerras, Nicholas Kraemer and Bruno Weil. He also works regularly in partnership with the eminent baroque violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch; recent 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. In recent seasons, he has directed numerous concerts at the festival, including three performances of the Six Brandenburg Concerti and he has also undertaken to direct a series of J.S. Bach's complete cantatas for solo voice. Over the last decade, his recital and concerto performances at the festival have been met with considerable critical acclaim.
Andrew 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 (click here for further details). His first solo disc ‘Organ Music for Passiontide’ was described in The Gramophone as ‘a performance of incandescent sensitivity’. His recent recording of Organ works by J.S. Bach has also been met with unanimous praise. In 2007, he toured the UK performing the complete organ works of Dieterich Buxtehude, marking the composer's tercentenary year. As a conclusion to this tour, he has recently recorded a double-CD entitled ‘The Buxtehude Influence’ on the fine Danish organ by Carsten Lund at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, scheduled for release later this year.
Since 2000, Andrew has held the position of Associate Director of Music at All Saints’, Margaret Street in London, where he assists Paul Brough with the running of the church’s professional choir. |
