Stephen Farr
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Stephen Farr is a British organist. He studied with Robert Munns and David Sanger (organist) in London and Cambridge. He also received tuition from Piet Kee in Haarlem and Hans Fagius in Copenhagen, and as a student was the recipient of grants from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Worshipful Company of Musicians (W.T. Best Scholarship).
After secondary school at Eltham College, in 1984 he became Organ Scholar of Clare College, Cambridge, where he obtained a Double first in Music and a Masters degree in Musicology. Sub-organist posts at Christ Church, Oxford and Winchester Cathedral preceded his appointment as Organist and Master of the Choristers of Guildford Cathedral.
Stephen now persues an active freelance career teaching in Oxford, Directing a Professional London Choir and playing Solo and in Ensemble in the UK and abroad. He won the Royal College of Organists Performer of the Year Competition in 1988 and further prizes at the international competitions in Odense, St Alban's and Paisley.
He maintains a regular broadcast presence, and as a recitalist has featured in the main series of the major venues in the UK – among them St Paul's Cathedral (where he has appeared twice in the Celebrity Series), Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, King's College, Cambridge, St David's Hall Cardiff, St John's, Smith Square, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, the Bridgewater Hall, the St David's Festival, and the Fairfield Halls. He has also appeared as a solo recitalist in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris.
His concerto work has included engagements with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and the London Mozart Players; he recently made his debut in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with the Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed as a concerto soloist in Sydney Opera House. He works regularly with leading ensembles including Florilegium, the Bach Choir, BBC Singers, BBC Concert Orchestra, English Concert, London Baroque Soloists, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Wallace Collection, Endymion Ensemble and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
He has a particular commitment to contemporary music, and has been involved in premieres of works by composers as diverse as Patrick Gowers, Francis Pott, Judith Bingham, and Howard Goodall. He also collaborated with Thomas Adès in a recording for EMI of the composer's Under Hamelin Hill, part of an extensive and wide-ranging discography. In 2004 he commissioned a new organ symphony from David Briggs, inspired by Maurice Duruflé's setting of the Requiem mass. His recording of this work forms part of an extensive discography as soloist, accompanist and continuo player.
Stephen Farr is a Council member, examiner and member of the Executive of the Royal College of Organists.
