York Minster

ROBERT SHARPE, Director of Music

Robert Sharpe is well-known as an organ recitalist and for his work with the choir of Truro Cathedral where he has held the position of Organist and Director of Music from 2002 to 2008.

Described as "playing with authority and musical persuasion" [Organists’ Review], his programmes feature music from all periods, with a bias towards the 19th and 20th century French school as well as 20th century English repertoire and the works of J S Bach; there is always an emphasis on musical contrast and style for each concert.

He held positions at St Albans Abbey, Exeter College, Oxford (from where he graduated with a degree in music) and Lichfield Cathedral where he was assistant organist before moving to Cornwall, and his teachers have included Roger Bryan, David Sanger and the late Nicholas Danby.

Sharpe has made numerous recordings in recent years both as organ soloist and with the choir of Truro Cathedral. These have all received critical acclaim, being described as "playing which is assured and musical… the crescendos are brilliantly managed" [Organists’ Review]; "my top billing among this year’s Christmas discs… Truro serves up one superb track after another" [Church Times] and "tending toward a vocal purity that is truly outstanding" [MusicWeb International].

In addition to his concert work and his work at Truro Cathedral, Robert Sharpe has also been Musical Director of Three Spires Singers and Orchestra. His performances with them have been admired by the critics, recently describing a concert as "an evening of virtuosity and opulence and a hard act to follow".

From September 2008, he has taken up the appointment as Director of Music at York Minster.

His interests include the liturgy of the church and integrating music within it, interesting wines, entertaining, furniture, engravings, architecture and technology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

JOHN SCOTT WHITELEY, Organist

John Scott Whiteley is one of our finest concert organists. He gained an organ scholarship at London University and then studied at the Royal College of Music, winning the Turpin Prize for performance in the Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists. This led to him being awarded scholarships to study with Flor Peeters in Malines and Fernando Germani in Siena.

In 1976 he won the National Organ Competition of Great Britain and in the same year moved to York Minster where he is now Organist and Director of the Girls’ Choir. He made his debut at the Royal Festival Hall in 1983 and has performed at festivals throughout Europe including the 2005 International Organ Festival in St Albans and the 2006 Musicometa Festival in Rome. Since 1985 he has regularly toured America and has made 23 recordings.

Recently he has become known for his performances on BBC2 and BBC4 of the complete organ music of J S Bach. "21st Century Bach", described by the Daily Telegraph as "a triumph both visually and musically", is planned to run for several years and will cover some 80 programmes. The DVD of the first two series was released in April 2006.

He has published books about Bach and the Belgian composer Joseph Jongen, is a contributor for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and is also an organ tutor, examiner and composer.

DAVID PIPE, Assistant to the Director of Music

David Pipe was educated at Epsom College in Surrey, where he held a Major Music Scholarship, later studying organ at the Royal Academy of Music with David Titterington. He studied Music at Cambridge University as Organ Scholar at Downing College, where he directed and accompanied the Chapel Choir for services and concerts at home and abroad. Whilst at Cambridge, David passed the examination for Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists.

David returned to the Royal Academy of Music in September 2005 to study organ with Susan Landale, having been awarded a postgraduate entrance scholarship on the Master’s course; his Master’s thesis focussed on the reception and context of J. S. Bach’s late organ music.

At the same time, David was Organ Scholar and Director of the Merbecke Choir at Southwark Cathedral, participating in tours and a recording with the Cathedral choirs; he conducted the Merbecke Choir at the end of the Queen’s Christmas Message in 2006, later giving the first performance of a piece written for the group.

David performs regularly as a recitalist; recitals have included the fringe of the Worcester Three Choirs Festival, the Cambridge Summer Music Festival, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral, as well as tours to Vermont and Colorado in the USA. He also appears frequently as organ accompanist.

Performances as continuo player have included Monteverdi’s Vespers and Bach’s B minor Mass in Exeter Cathedral, and a concert of English Restoration music with the Fitzwilliam String Quartet in Cambridge. Whilst at Cambridge, David accompanied on the organ for a recording in honour of Pope John Paul II.

Before coming to York, David worked as temporary Assistant Organist at Guildford Cathedral and then taught in a prep school. He was appointed to the position of Assistant to the Director of Music in September 2008. (photograph: Jeremy Howat)

Recordings of York Minster Choir and Organ

There are nearly 40 CDs and cassette tape recordings in existence of the Organ and Choir of York Minster.

A complete list of these can be found, to be consulted or printed off, in a PDF document located under Useful Documents at the left side of this page under "Recordings of Organ and Choir".

Many of them are available in the Minster Shop, accessible through this website.