Detailed Programmes and Performers’ Biographies

4 July: Colin Walsh

Colin Walsh’s association with cathedral music goes back over forty years. He has served, in various capacities, St George’s Chapel Windsor Castle, Christ Church Oxford (where he worked closely with Simon Preston and studied the organ with Nicholas Danby), Salisbury Cathedral and St Albans Cathedral. He went to Lincoln Cathedral in 1988 as Organist and Master of the Choristers, becoming Organist Laureate in 2003 and Organist Emeritus in 2021.

As an organ recitalist he has played in all the major venues in the UK, most European countries, the USA, Australasia, Hong Kong and Russia.

His studies in Paris with the blind French organist and composer Jean Langlais inspired him to specialise in 19th and 20th century French organ music. In 1988 he played, at a public concert, the music of Olivier Messiaen in front of the composer. His recordings on CD and DVD as a choral conductor, accompanist and soloist number nearly forty over many years and various labels. He has appeared as organ soloist in the BBC Radio 3 ‘Live in Concert’ series, and more recently he has recorded a live performance of Messiaen’s La Nativité for Priory Records, a CD of Bach in Lincoln Cathedral, and music by Dupré and Demessieux from the famous Cavaillé-Coll organ of St Ouen, Rouen.

He teaches in Cambridge and London and holds an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of Lincoln. His interests include travel, animals and, of course, good food.

PROGRAMME

Bach: Kyrie, Gott, heiliger Geist BWV 671

Meck arr Walther: Concerto in B minor

1) Allegro

2) Adagio

3) Allegro

Carvalho: Allegro in D

Bossi: Entree Pontificale

Bossi: Scherzo in G minor

Langlais: Le fils(Trois Meditations sur la Sainte Trinite)

Dubois: Toccata in G

11 July: Ruth Lee (harp)

Ruth Lee is an award-winning harpist and composer whose work is driven by narrative, often blending the realms of history, mythology and nature. Described as a ‘musical storyteller’ with ‘her own inner voice’ (Sioned Williams, UKHA Review), Ruth has been recognised for her innovative approach to both composition and performance. She was a Semi-Finalist in the World Harp Competition 2024 and has received multiple accolades, including the Sioned Williams Harp Prize at the United Kingdom Harp Competition, the Iain Macleòid Young Composer Award at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival, and the Wales International Harp Festival Composition Competition. She performed a solo recital at the World Harp Congress in 2022, showcasing her compositions alongside contemporary works.

Ruth’s music often incorporates both acoustic and electro-acoustic elements. She uses loop machines, ambient noise, and extended harp techniques to create a distinctive sound world that blends folk, classical, and experimental influences. Her compositions range from traditional western notation to graphic scores, with some works inspired by photography and in-situ sketches. Ruth is particularly interested in the ways in which sound can evoke a sense of place and time, which informs much of her work.

A graduate of the University of York (First-Class BA Hons. Music, 2019), Ruth was awarded both the Wilfrid Mellers Prize for Music and a Concerto Award. During her studies, she performed Soñando en Español by Deborah Henson-Conant with the University of York Chamber Orchestra. Ruth has had the privilege of studying harp for many years under Eleanor Turner. After graduating, she continued her studies with Charlotte Seale, expanding her knowledge and skills in contemporary harp performance.

Recent compositional premieres include Memory Thread for Duncan Honeybourne, marking the centenary of Erik Satie’s death, as well as Mrs MacQueen for baritone Robert Rice & pianist William Vann. Ruth’s works have been performed and workshopped by several notable ensembles and soloists, including Lore Lixenberg (Krummholz), The Hermes Experiment, The Chimera Ensemble, and other international artists through The Arc Project. With the support of Salvi Harps, she created ‘Reimagined‘, a multimedia concert featuring original and contemporary works for electric harp and chamber ensemble, performed by her all-female trio, Phantasia. Ruth regularly collaborates with soloists and chamber musicians, often blending folk and contemporary classical styles, and integrating improvisation into both her performance and compositional processes.

Outside of the concert hall, Ruth works with Live Music Now, delivering interactive performances and workshops in SEND schools, hospitals, care homes, and community settings. Ruth is passionate about encouraging young people to find their musical voice and creates online music courses, such as Kickstart Composing! for ages 7-15, which is suitable for all instruments. Through these platforms, she aims to inspire and nurture the next generation of musicians. 

PROGRAMME

• Watching the Wheat – John Thomas
• Haar – Ailie Robertson
• The Nightingale – Deborah Henson-Conant
• Alice in Escher’s Wonderland – Eleanor Turner
• Two Kay Sage Paintings – David Power
• Swerving Bunnies / Eggshell Brewery – Ailie Robertson / Rachel Newton
• Song of the Sea – Bruno Coulais
• Sulla Lulla – Traditional Norwegian, arr. Eleanor Turner

18 July: Jeffrey Makinson (organ)

Jeffrey Makinson is Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Lincoln Cathedral.

He is also an accredited teacher for the Royal College of Organists Academy and Music Director of Beverley Chamber Choir.  Born in Manchester in 1970, Jeffrey received his musical training at the Royal Northern College of Music and at Manchester University.  He subsequently became Organ Scholar at York Minster for two years before spending five years as Assistant Organist at Lincoln Cathedral.  He moved to Manchester Cathedral as Sub-Organist in 1999.  During his time in Manchester he was Tutor of Organ at the Royal Northern College of Music and at Manchester University and Tutor in Piano at Chetham’s School of Music. 

Jeffrey returned to Lincoln in January 2015.  As part of his duties at the Cathedral, Jeffrey accompanies the cathedral choir for most of the choral services and directs the girl choristers.   He also maintains a busy schedule as a recitalist, accompanist, conductor, teacher and adjudicator in the city and across the country.  As an organist, Jeffrey has performed across Europe and North America.   In the United Kingdom he has given concerts at most of the major cathedrals, abbeys, collegiate chapels, churches and concert halls, including numerous recitals at Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, St. Paul’s Cathedral and King’s College, Cambridge.   Jeffrey is an examiner for the Royal College of Organists.  He has also taught on numerous ‘Royal College of Organists’ and ‘Oundle for Organists’ courses.   He works extensively for the BBC, as regular musical director and organist for Radio 4 Daily Service.  He has also worked on television and radio shows such as ‘Songs of Praise’, ‘Chorister of the Year’, ‘Choral Evensong’, ‘Minstrels in the Gallery’, ‘Young Musician of the Year’, ‘Sunday Morning Worship’ and the Radio 4 ‘Pilgrimage to Rome’.  He has made numerous CD recordings, with the Albany, Delphian, Herald, Lammas, Naxos, Priory and Regent labels.

For many years Jeffrey was Organist in Residence at the Exon Singers Summer Festival, held in Devon.    He has a keen interest in new music and has given first performances of works by numerous leading composers, including Michael Berkeley, Judith Bingham, Mark Blatchly, James Burton, Martin Bussey, Bob Chilcott, Naji Hakim, Robin Holloway, Grayston Ives, Francis Jackson, George Lloyd, Richard Lloyd, Matthew Martin, Philip Moore, Howard Skempton and Philip Wilby.

As an orchestral musician he has worked alongside some of the country’s leading ensembles, including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé, Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Northern Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

PROGRAMME

Toccata and ‘Dorian’ Fugue in D minor, BWV 538 – J S Bach (1685-1750)

Prelude on Vater unser in Himmelreich – Georg Böhm (1661-1733)

Five Short Pieces – Percy Whitlock (1903-46)

     Allegretto – Folk Tune – Andante tranquillo – Scherzo – Paean

Chant donné – Maurice Duruflé (1902-86)

Prelude on ‘East Acklam’ – Francis Jackson (1917-2022)

Carillon de Westminster – Louis Vierne (1870-1937)

25 July: Olivia Thomas (soprano) and David Beer (piano)

Olivia Thomas is a London-based soprano and piano and singing teacher, recognised for her lyrical tone and expressive interpretation across classical, sacred, and contemporary repertoire. A graduate of Newcastle University (BA Music) and Trinity Laban Conservatoire (MMus Vocal Performance, Distinction), she studied as a Kathleen Roberts Vocal Scholar under the guidance of Patricia Rozario and Helen Yorke.

Her operatic credits include Blondchen (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Nannetta (Falstaff), Servilia (La Clemenza di Tito), Zdenka (Arabella), and Olympia (The Tales of Hoffmann), as well as Jane Seymour in Try Me, Good King. In 2024, she joined the chorus of Dido’s Ghost under the direction of Frederic Wake-Walker and was awarded the joint third prize in the Hearn Foundation Vocal Competition.

Olivia’s concert work includes solo performances in Bach’s St John Passion with the Brandenburg Orchestra and ORNCC Choir, and Brahms’ Requiem with the Newcastle Bach Choir. She has appeared in BBC broadcasts with the Old Royal Naval College Chapel Choir and has performed in Siena, Italy, as part of Michael Chance’s SienAgosto Academy.

Alongside performing, Olivia teaches piano and voice at Blackheath Conservatoire. She is a certified Vocal Health First Aider and brings warmth, clarity, and a supportive approach to both her teaching and performance work.

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David Beer trained classically as a pianist and conductor and pursued a career in Musical Theatre. He worked for 30 years in London’s West End as Musical Director, pianist and vocal coach on many hit shows, and while working for Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber became Sarah Brightman’s accompanist. This work took him all over the world, and he has made TV and radio appearances in the UK and Hungary.

Relocating to Lincolnshire in 2018, he has returned to his classical roots and is now very busy as an accompanist, most notably for Grimsby Philharmonic Choir. He teaches singing and piano, and works as an examiner and adjudicator in music festivals throughout the UK.

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PROGRAMME

Let the Bright Seraphim, from Samson – G. F Handel (1685-1759)

Wedding Cantata:  Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten (BWV 202) – J. S Bach (1685-1750)

Liebst du um Schönheit, from Rückert-Lieder – Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Be Kind and Courteous, from A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Benjamin Britten (2013-76)

Le Colibri, from Sept Mélodies  – Ernest Chausson (1855-99)

Fêtes Galantes – Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

          En Sourdine – Fantoches

Summertime, from Porgy and Bess – George Gershwin (1898-1937)

Three Browning Songs  – Amy Beach (1867-1944)

          Ah love, but a day – The year’s at the spring – I send my heart up to thee

O mio babbino caro, from Gianni Schicchi – Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

I could have danced all night, from My Fair Lady – Frederick Loewe (1901-88)

The Man I Love – George Gershwin 

1 August: George Elson (baritone) and Josh Wilkinson (piano)

George Elson is currently studying under Quentin Hayes at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. With a passion for languages, George particularly enjoys performing German Lieder and French Mélodies, alongside a modest operatic repertoire ranging from Handel to Verdi. In May, he sung Doctor Grenville (La Traviata) with Preston Opera and looks forward to making his RNCM debut this winter in Prokofiev’s ‘L’amour des Trois Oranges’ as Le Héraut and La Cuisinière in both casts, before singing the title role in Handel’s ‘Hercules’ this February with his company, Fenwold Opera.

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Splitting her time between Bedfordshire and Manchester, soprano Ellie Astridge is currently undertaking her undergraduate study on the GRNCM ‘Joint Course’ at the University of Manchester and the Royal Northern College of Music, under the tutelage of Hilary Summers. In recital, Ellie has performed works by Boyle, Britten, Debussy, Dusapin, Handel, Milhaud, Poulenc, Purcell, and Schubert. Most recently, Ellie performed alongside Tim Weed (trumpet) and Richard Sisson (piano) as part of the Tuesday lunchtime recital series at St Paul’s Church, Bedford. Their programme was devised around 20th- and 21st-century American music and poetry, featuring works by Copland, Rorem and Harbach amongst others. When she is not singing, Ellie enjoys spending time sewing and knitting as well as looking after her ducks, chickens and guinea pigs.

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Josh Wilkinson is a passionate educator, pianist, conductor and composer living in Alford, Lincolnshire. Currently Josh spends the majority of his time teaching music privately from his home in Alford. He loves to create new music and games for his students as well as finding new ways to help inspire his students to develop and become more confident. In addition to teaching, Josh is the accompanist for the Withern Singers and the In Harmony Choir, and the Musical Director of the Alford Silver Band. He has recently been the conductor for the Spilsby Music Festival bringing together 9 local primary schools in two wonderful concerts. Before moving back to Lincolnshire Josh worked as an accompanist and répétiteur, including: The Ryedale Festival, Opera North Children’s Chorus, and Opera Schmopera.

PROGRAMME

Bei Mannern welche Liebe fuhlen (from Die Zauberflote) – W A Mozart (1756-91)

Four Songs from ‘The Fisher Maiden’– Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

            The First Meeting

            Good morning

            To Springtime my song I’m singing

            Say what you will

Come let us leave the town (from The Fairy Queen) – Henry Purcell (1659-95)

Two Songs – Robert Schumann (1810-56)

            Ich grolle nicht (Dichterliebe, No. 7)

            Du bist wie eine Blume (Myrten, No. 24)

Two Arias from Don Giovanni – W A Mozart

            Giovinetti che fate all’amore

            La ci darem

Le papillon et la fleur – Gabriel Faure (1845-1924)

Three Songs from ‘The Little Mermaid’ — Arthur Honegger (1892-1955)

            Songs of the sirens

            Lullaby of the siren

            Song of the pear

It was a lover and his lass – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Asturiana – Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)

La mi sola, Laureola – Fernando Obradors  1897-1945)

Konnte jeder brave Mann (from Die Zauberflote) – W A Mozart

8 August: Paul Hale (organ)

Paul Hale was Cathedral Organist and Rector Chori at Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire for twenty-seven years, having previously been Assistant Organist of Rochester Cathedral, Assistant Director of Music at Tonbridge School, Organ Scholar of New College, Oxford and a music scholar at Solihull School, where his lifelong passion for the organ and choirs was ignited.  He was appointed Cathedral Organist Emeritus on his retirement from Southwell in 2016.  On 9 June 2017, in a ceremony at Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred on Paul the Lambeth Thomas Cranmer Award in recognition of his “outstanding contribution to church music in Southwell and beyond”.

For twenty-nine years Paul was Conductor of the Nottingham Bach Choir, of which he is now President, following in the footsteps of its founder, the late Sir David Lumsden (Paul’s tutor at Oxford and one of his predecessors at Southwell). He has been a Diploma Examiner for the Royal College of Organists, also Chairman and Secretary of the Diocesan Organ Advisers’ Annual Conference, Chairman of the RSCM Southwell & Nottinghamshire Area and of the Cathedral Organists’ Association, President of the Nottingham & District Society of Organists (thrice) and a trustee of the Royal College of Organists and of the Nottingham Albert Hall Binns Trust.  He is also a Vice President of the Traditional Cathedral Choir Association (which works hard to help cathedrals to maintain a top line of boys). Paul has recently concluded three years as President of the Organ Club and is involved in planning their 2026 Centenary celebrations.

He holds the FRCO and ARCM organ-playing diplomas and in recent years was awarded the FRSA, FGCM and FRSCM, the latter two “for distinguished service to church music”.  Organ Adviser to the dioceses of Southwell and Lincoln, Paul is in national demand as an independent organ consultant, interesting projects in recent years including new organs for Merton College Oxford, Manchester Cathedral, Newcastle R.C. Cathedral, Radley College and Maidenhead parish church, with restoration or rebuilding projects at Rochdale Town Hall, Selby Abbey, Birmingham, Salisbury and Ripon Cathedrals, Melton Mowbray, King’s Lynn, Bridlington Priory and Wolverhampton parish churches (among many), schools such as Repton, Worksop College, Benenden, City of London, plus Manchester, Cambridge, Glasgow, Westminster and Sussex Universities. Planning the restoration of the Hradetzky organ in the Royal Northen College of Music is one of his current projects, along with large new organs for Gloucester Cathedral, St Barnabas Oxford and St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield.

Paul gives organ concerts and lectures all over the world, a particular honour being invited to give the Royal College of Organists Diploma Presentation Recital, to play several times at Thomas Trotter’s invitation in Birmingham Town Hall, at Ian Tracey’s invitation at Liverpool Cathedral, in the Hereford Three Choirs Festival, also at St Sulpice and the Madeleine in Paris (on the same very hot day), and to perform at St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in one memorable season. Work for the RSCM includes running courses for young organists, directing cathedral courses and following Dr Barry Rose in directing for two years the Valley Forge Summer School in the USA.

He is well known for his writings on the organ (Paul was a consultant and author for the New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians), his articles in Choir & Organ and for his regular column in the journal Organists’ Review, of which he was Editor from 1992 to 2005 and is now Honorary Consulting Editor. Paul enjoys teaching the organ; his former choristers, pupils and organ scholars are found in many cathedrals and great churches – one, Peter Holder (now Organist of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford), playing for the funeral of the late Queen and for the Coronation of King Charles, when Sub Organist at Westminster Abbey. Another, Geoffrey Woollatt, is Assistant Organist at Manchester Cathedral, and next month becomes Director of Music at Bradford Cathedral.

PROGRAMME

Fanfare Percy Whitlock (1903-1946)

Prelude, Minuet & Fugue in F J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Adagio Tomaso Albinoni (1761-1715) / Rémo Giazotto (1910-1998)

Pièce Héroïque César Franck (1822-1890)

Prelude on ‘The Londonderry Air’ Noel Rawsthorne (1929-2019)

Toccata in B minor Eugène Gigout (1844-1925)

15 August: Clare Laughton (cello) and Robert Poyser (piano)

Clare Laughton Bmus (Hons), originally from Louth in Lincolnshire, studied Music at the University of Hull which is where she met her accompanist. Shortly after graduating, Clare moved to York and became heavily involved in medieval music and began working at Bootham School, where she taught for 14 years. Clare now teaches at Hymers College, Queen Ethelburga’s, Ashville College and Ackworth School.

Clare has played with the English National Orchestra, recorded with Shed 7, toured Switzerland with Grammy nominated Gungor and has worked for many years with the ELO Experience, touring UK theatres and festivals. Work is now usually based closer to home playing in chamber ensembles and orchestras, appearing regularly with the Ebor Quartet, Scarborough Symphony Orchestra and at Hull Arena for Love Actually and a Meatloaf tribute.

Clare spends her free time chasing after her 4-year-old twin girls, rescue dog ‘Chum’ and restoring old instruments.

Robert Poyser Bmus FTCL ARCO has been Director of Music at Beverley Minster since March 2009. He combines his busy role at the Minster with teaching piano and organ, performing and accompanying. Since arriving at the Minster, Robert has founded a Girls choir which is now a regular and integral part of the musical life of the Minster and more recently, a Junior choir

Robert was born in Gloucester where he was a chorister at the Cathedral and also Organ Scholar under David Briggs. He graduated in 2000 with a first class degree from the University of Hull, where he held the University Organ Scholarship and studied with John Scott Whiteley.  After leaving Hull, Robert held the post of Organ Scholar at York Minster, also teaching at the Minster School before moving to be Assistant Director of Music at Chelmsford Cathedral in 2003. In 2008, Robert became acting Director of Music at Chelmsford and then moved in the summer to take up the post of Director of Music at St Mary’s, Portsea, in Portsmouth before moving to Beverley.

Sonata in D Major, Opus 17                Luise Adolpha Le Beau (1850-1927)

Allegro Molto

Andante Tranquillo

Allegro Vivace

Julie-O                                                Mark Summer

Six Morceaux Melodiques                  W H Squire (1871-1963)

Canzonetta

Danse Orientale

Elegie

Madrigal

Idylle

Harlequinade

The Donkey and the Driver                 Hubert Leonard (1945-2025)

22 August: Rosemary Field (organ)

Rosemary Field studied at the Royal College of Music under Nicholas Danby. As a student she won the RCM prizes for harmony and for organ-playing, and was later awarded the Tournemire Medal (for Improvisation) at the St Albans Festival in the 80s. Choosing to go into church music was an early decision and she has spent the last 40 years in this vocation alongside that of teaching, writing and supporting parishes and individuals in their work. Appointments held have included the Sub-Organist posts of Birmingham and Portsmouth Cathedrals, Diocesan Music Development Officer for Lincoln (2008 – 12) and a period of 15 years at St. Stephen’s Westminster. Rosemary become deputy Director of the Royal School of Church Music in late 2012, then requested a transfer to the teaching team late in 2019 – just before the pandemic changed everything. She is now Sunday Organist at Worksop Priory, has returned to Lincolnshire to live in her own house, and is rebuilding a portfolio based here.

PROGRAMME

Cesar Franck                  Phantasie in A                                                      

Hendrik Andriessen       Thema met Varieties                                    

J S Bach               Prelude on Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele     

Johannes Brahms           Prelude on Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele                

Herbert Howells    Psalm-Prelude Set 2 Number 2                    

Theodore Salomé           Grande Choeur in G

29 August: Naomi Sullivan (saxophone) and Jane O’Farrell (piano)

Naomi Sullivan studied at Chetham’s School of Music, the Royal College of Music and Northwestern University.   She has a varied career with a focus on chamber music, contemporary music and music education. She has been part of several chamber recording projects: with Syzygy (a quartet she co-founded in 2009) and Flotilla – lead by Kyle Horch. She joined the Laefer Quartet in 2020 ahead of their 2023 album, Strata. 

As an orchestral musician, Naomi has worked for UK orchestras including Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Aurora Orchestra, Chineke and the Orchestra of the Swan. In September 2007 she started teaching at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and has been Head of Saxophone since 2008. Naomi also teaches at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.  Naomi has given masterclasses across the UK, in South Africa, Andorra, Norway and USA. With the support of the Erasmus Exchange programme, she has collaborated with the Royal Conservatoires of Antwerp, Brussels, Ferrara, Fermo, Pesaro, Lucerne, Amsterdam and Vienna.

Jane O’Farrell studied at the Royal College of Music with Kendall Taylor and Bernard Roberts.  She performs as a soloist,  as accompanist with  both singers and instrumentalists,  works with two choirs and has been musical director for several theatrical productions.   Whilst being a board member of the Lincolnshire International Chamber Music Festival Jane introduced many young people to live classical music through taking professional performers into schools to give workshops.  Jane also teaches piano and takes great pleasure in encouraging love of music in her students, giving them opportunities for performance wherever possible.

PROGRAMME

Alessandro Marcello: Concerto in C minor 

André Caplet: Impressions of Autumn 

Claude Debussy Arabesque (solo piano)

Jeanne Leleu: Danse Nostalgique 

Robert Planel: Prelude and Salterelle 

Ralph Vaughan Williams: 6 Studies on English Folk Song – movements 1, 5, 6