Sunday, March 9, 2025 at 8:00 PM
John Challenger
(United Kingdom)
John Challenger
(United Kingdom)
British organist John Challenger has been Assistant Director of Music at Salisbury Cathedral, UK, since September 2012. In this role, he accompanies Salisbury Cathedral Choir in daily worship on the Cathedral’s famous organ built by Henry Willis in 1877. John is also Assistant Conductor of Salisbury Musical Society, and a freelance organ recitalist. Recent invitations to perform have come from across the UK, as well as Denmark, Germany, Italy, and the United States.
He received his musical education as a chorister at Hereford Cathedral, and as an Organ Scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge. At St John’s College, under the directorship of Andrew Nethsingha, John accompanied the world-famous chapel choir, playing the organ for services, concerts, recordings, broadcasts, tours, and four critically-acclaimed recordings on the Chandos label. In early 2017, John acted as Director of Music of St John’s College, during the sabbatical of Andrew Nethsingha. John studied the organ with David Briggs, Jeremy Filsell, Mark Williams, and the late David Sanger, and he obtained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists in 2008. Deeply interested in sharing the benefits of cathedral as widely as possible, John’s recent projects at Salisbury have included the establishment of the cathedral’s own record label, the annual Organ Prom which draws around 1,000 audience members, pipe organ days for young people, and work with schoolchildren. John has released four critically-acclaimed solo recordings on the organ of Salisbury Cathedral: Elgar from Salisbury, César Franck Organ Works, the best-selling album Organ Prom, and most recently, Salisbury Meditation, an album which raises funds for the UK’s National Health Service charities. On 18 September 2024, John’s own organ arrangement of Gustav Holst’s The Planets from Salisbury Cathedral will be released as an audio album (The Planets, available as a CD, and on digital platforms), alongside an hour-long film in 4K (The Planets – Out of Darkness) which premieres at 8pm on Salisbury Cathedral’s YouTube channel. |
Program
François Couperin (1668-1733)
Offertoire sur les Grands Jeux, from Messe pour les Paroisses
Jehan Alain (1911-1940)
Trois Pièces
i. Variations sur un thème de Clément Jannequin
ii. Le Jardin Suspendu
iii. Litanies
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Vater unser im Himmelreich, BWV 682
Rachel Laurin (1961-2023)
Three Impressions on Kingsfold
i. Prélude en Canon
ii. Berceuse
iii. Cloches
Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)
Nocturne
Gaston Litaize (1909-1991)
Allegretto, from 24 Pièces
Healey Willan (1880-1968)
Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue
François Couperin (1668-1733)
Offertoire sur les Grands Jeux, from Messe pour les Paroisses
Jehan Alain (1911-1940)
Trois Pièces
i. Variations sur un thème de Clément Jannequin
ii. Le Jardin Suspendu
iii. Litanies
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Vater unser im Himmelreich, BWV 682
Rachel Laurin (1961-2023)
Three Impressions on Kingsfold
i. Prélude en Canon
ii. Berceuse
iii. Cloches
Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)
Nocturne
Gaston Litaize (1909-1991)
Allegretto, from 24 Pièces
Healey Willan (1880-1968)
Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue