Christ’s Church Rye will welcome David Briggs, internationally celebrated organist and Artist-in-Residence at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in NYC, to perform an organ concert this Sunday, November 21st at 5pm. The program will feature J S Bach, Tchaikovsky, Dukas along with an improvisation on a theme presented by the audience.
Briggs, who has family in Rye, played at Christ’s Church once before about 15 years ago. This weekend he will also play the organ at the 10 o’clock Sunday service (prelude, postlude, and accompanying the choir).
Hailed for his unbridled virtuosity and passion for making organ music vibrant and accessible to a wide and diverse audience, Briggs is one of the most sought-after concert organists of his generation. He is known across the globe for his brilliant organ transcriptions of symphonic music by composers such as Mahler, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and Bach.
Described as ‘an intrepid improviser’ by Michael Barone, host of American Public Media’s Pipedreams, Briggs also frequently performs improvisations to silent films such as Phantom of the Opera, Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Nosferatu, and a variety of Charlie Chaplin films. He recently played his own organ transcription of Beethoven’s 9th symphony to a sell-out crowd at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City.
Briggs obtained his FRCO (Fellow of the Royal College of Organists) diploma at the age of 17, winning the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, and from 1981-84, was Organ Scholar at King’s College Cambridge.
He teaches performance at Cambridge University, frequently serves on international organ competition juries, and gives master classes at colleges and conservatories across the U.S. and Europe.
The concert is open to the public. Masks are required for in-person attendance and a suggested donation to the Music Program at Christ’s Church Rye will be accepted online or at the door. A link to the livestream will be provided to those who make an online donation.
See Briggs at work:
