T E M P L E C H U R C H C H O I R
Concerttour Nederland 2015
B i o g r a p h y R o g e r S a y e r
Roger Sayer is Organist and Director of Music at The Temple Church, London, having previously held the same position at Rochester Cathedral. He is also Deputy Chorus Director and Accompanist to the London Symphony Chorus.
In his early years Roger was an organ student at St Paul’s Cathedral and also won many prizes for organ playing as a student at the Royal College of Music. Notably his success as a prize winner in the 1989 St Albans International Organ Competition led to a career of international recital tours which take him all over the world. He has many recordings both as organist and conductor which have received wide critical acclaim. Two CDs will be released in the next six months; one is Roger’s final Rochester organ solo recording and the other is his first as Music Director of the Temple Church Choir. This will include the first recording of the new cantata, Our Present Charter, by the American Composer, Nico Muhly, written for the choir to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta. In 2015/16, Roger will record the complete 20 Rheinberger organ sonatas.
Under his direction the Temple Church Choir has performed live on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, the Cadogan Hall and has recently returned from a highly acclaimed tour to Washington DC. Roger is organ soloist on the soundtrack of the current blockbuster film ‘Interstellar’ which was released in early November 2014. Roger also examines for the ABRSM.
B i o g r a p h y G r e g g M o r r i s
Greg Morris is Associate Organist of the Temple Church in London, a position he has held since 2006. As accompanist to the renowned Temple Church Choir, he has performed on BBC Radio 3 and in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen, and Greg also takes a major role in the training of the choristers. As part of the 2008 Temple Festival, Greg gave a complete performance of the Organ Concertos by John Stanley, and the first performance ofIubilium by David Bednall.
Born in Manchester, Greg studied the organ with Paul Stubbings, John Kitchen and Thomas Trotter. He held scholarships at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, Jesus College, Cambridge and St Martin-in-the-Fields, and was awarded the prize for overall performance in the FRCO examinations.
Prior to this, Greg was Assistant Director of Music at Blackburn Cathedral, where he directed the Cathedral’s Youth Choir, introducing a full programme including several broadcasts on BBC Radio 4, tours to Rome and Vienna and four commissions of new works. He was a regular organist for BBC Radio’s Daily Service.
As a recitalist, Greg has performed at many leading venues in this country and abroad, and his first solo CD, Sounds Inspirational, has received widespread critical acclaim. His extensive repertoire focuses on Baroque music – particularly the works of Bach and Buxtehude – and French and English twentieth-century music. He was the organ soloist in the World Première of David Briggs’ Organ Concerto, written in celebration of the organ of Blackburn Cathedral, and his recording of this work is available on the Chestnut label. A CD of music by Kenneth Leighton was released earlier this year.
T h e C h o i r
The Choir of the Temple Church consists of eighteen choristers, and 12 professional choirmen who make up the alto, tenor and bass sections of the choir.
The choirmen have all received professional vocal training, and many of them are successful soloists in their own right with careers that take them worldwide.
