Benjamin Saunders concert organist
May 2010 . First Recording of Leeds Cathedral Organ
Herald AV will release a CD by Benjamin Saunders marking the first recording of the new organ at Leeds Cathedral on 16 May 2010. On this disc a kaleidoscope of late nineteenth and early twentieth century organ works by Guilmant, Vierne, Howells and Kushnariov sit alongside new transcriptions of music by Britten, Dvorak and Glass. The Cathedral organ has been described as one of the most English sounding of organs, situated in a sumptuous acoustic with a full red blooded romantic tone. The recording is priced £12.99 including postage. Ordering direct from Leeds Cathedral means that the proceeds will support the organ fund. The disc has been awarded a full four stars by Choir and Organ Magazine.
May and June 2010 . Concert tour to Germany, Austria and Slovenia
The start of the summer sees a concert tour in which Benjamin Saunders will play some notable instruments in Europe. The evening concert on the massive new Klais organ in Cologne Cathedral will feature transcriptions by Dvorak and Britten, alongside contemporary music by Philip Glass in an hour long programme. This is part of Cologne Cathedral's international recital series, where players from across the world give varied recitals each year. The concert in the ancient cathedral of Novo Mesto in Slovenia is on a new Skrabl instrument, which is built into a historic organ case and features four unenclosed divisions. In Austria, the first performance takes place at Pfarramt Maria Church, a well known Romanesque church in Lavermund. This church boasts another new instrument, complete with new case, sited high up in the West end gallery.
Spring 2010 . Premiere of new music,
To mark the installation of the new organ by Klais Orgelbau of Bonn in Leeds Cathedral, Benjamin Saunders in conjunction with guest organists, will premiere some new organ works written for the occasion. These include commissions from Graham Fitkin, Keith Roberts, and Nigel Allcoat. Fitkin wrote a piece for the new Klais organ in the Symphony Hall Birmingham. The new organ in Leeds will be a romantic style instrument and have four manuals, seven divisions and 55 ranks of pipes. The full specification of the organ can be found here.
January 2010 . Restoring Harmony
An article describing the concerts of reconciliation given at Kaliningrad Cathedral by Benjamin Saunders appears in the January/February edition of Choir and Organ Magazine. The magazine's editor Maggie Hamilton writes of the Russian Cathedral that "now rebuilt, it has a new organ, by a German builder, paid for with money from the Russian state, and inaugurated by organists from Russia, Germany and Britain in a concert of reconciliation. In this most special of contexts the instrument itself aquires a powerful additional significance." The feature also includes a history of the organs of Kaliningrad Cathedral. The full text can be viewed here by kind permission of the publishers.
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December 2009 . Inauguration of new Slovenian Organ
The first major new instrument in the UK by the Slovenian builders Anton Skrabl will be inaugurated by Benjamin Saunders on 1 December. The organ is was built at the workshops in Rogaka Slatina, and installed at St Patrick's Church Huddersfield in the summer in a newly reconstructed choir gallery. The instrument has mechanical key and stop action and two unenclosed manual divisions plus pedal. The full specification of the organ can be found here.
August 2009 . Musical Ambassador to Russia
Benjamin Saunders has the honour of being a musical ambassador for the UK in a concert celebrating peace and reconciliation following the destruction of Kaliningrad (formerly Koenigsberg) by the RAF in World War II. The city was a cultural centre of Prussia and also birth place of the philosopher Kant. The recitals take place at the city's newly rebuilt Cathedral, where Russia's largest new organ by Schuke has recently been completed. Olivier Latry of Notre Dame Cathedral and Andreas Sieling of Berlin Cathedral gave recitals in the past year and Benjamin Saunders is the first British organist to play there. Further details about the Cathedral and it's organ can be found here: http://www.sobor-kaliningrad.ru/. Pictures from the tour can be found here.