Biography
David Briggs is an internationally renowned organist who has built a world-wide reputation as an innovative musician and dazzling performer. Increasingly sought after for his orchestral transcriptions and his art of improvisation, his performances are known for their musicality, virtuosity and ability to excite and engage audiences of all ages.
David studied organ with Jean Langlais in Paris. The first British winner of the Tournemire Prize at the St Albans International Improvisation Competition, he also won the first prize in the International Improvisation Competition at Paisley. At the age of 17 he obtained his FRCO (Fellow of the Royal College of Organists) diploma, winning the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
Having
held positions at Truro and Hereford Cathedrals and King’s College,
Cambridge, where he was Organ Scholar, David Briggs is Organist Emeritus
at Gloucester Cathedral, where he directed the music for eight years. While
at Gloucester, he oversaw the complete rebuilding of the Cathedral organ
by Nicholson, and directed the Three Choirs Festivals, conducting some of
the UK’s finest professional orchestras, notably the Philharmonia.
A gifted and inspirational teacher, David regularly gives masterclasses
at the Royal Northern College of Music and at Oxford and Cambridge. He is
frequently invited to serve on international competition juries, and was
Chairman of the Jury at Nurnberg in June 2007.
Beginning with his powerful transcription of Mahler 5 in 1998, David’s
compilation of organ transcriptions of orchestral symphonies has grown to
include Schubert 8, Tchaikovsky 4, Bruckner 7 and Ravel’s Daphnis
and Chloe. In November 2007, Mahler 6 is scheduled to be premiered in New
York City, followed by a premiere in Germany in June 2008. These transcriptions
are becoming increasingly popular and have been praised by critics for helping
make organ music accessible to broader audiences.
David Briggs is also a prolific composer and his works range from full scale oratorios to works for solo instruments. Commissions include a setting of the St. John Passion for choir, chamber orchestra and soloists; Symphony ‘Missa pro defunctis’; a setting of the Solemn Requiem Mass; Four Concert Etudes; and a Cello Sonata. ‘Dreamworld’, a song cycle for tenor and piano, his ‘Requiem’, and transcriptions of Tchaikovsky 4 and Schubert 8, have been released on the independent music label, Chestnut Music.
David’s schedule includes more than 50 concerts a year. In 2004, he was one of three international recitalists invited to celebrate the reopening of the organ at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Recent engagements include National Cathedral in Washington, DC, Notre Dame in Paris, Severance Hall in Cleveland and Symphony Hall, Birmingham, in the UK. Future recitals include the Royal Albert Hall, Temple Church, and Westminster Abbey in London; St Ignatius Loyola and St. Bartholomew’s in New York City; King’s College, Cambridge; St. John’s Cathedral in Albuquerque, New Mexico and a ‘Battle of the Organs’ with Wayne Marshall in Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, UK. He is frequently asked to perform improvisation to silent films such as Phantom of the Opera, Nosferatu, King of Kings, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Jeanne d’Arc and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.
BBC Music Magazine recently selected David to record a disc celebrating the French composers, Widor and Vierne. Scheduled for recording in October 2007 at St Sernin in Toulouse, France, the disc will be featured on the cover of BBC Magazine in spring 2008 and distributed to more than 60,000 subscribers. He has also recorded 23 solo CDs including his transcription of Mahler 5, Bach at Gloucester, and Organ Spectacular, recorded on the largest church organ in the world: First Congregational Church in Los Angeles.
David Briggs now lives in Boston, Massachusetts and is represented by Chestnut Music.