I A O ORGAN FESTIVAL
Bristol
2026
The festival opened with two Choral Evensongs, first at the cathedral and then at the church of St Mary Redcliffe, with the time between used for registration when attendees were welcomed and given name badges and a copy of the 36-page festival handbook.
Later at St Mary’s, we heard the first recital of the week given by resident organist Claire Alsop, demonstrating the famous Harrison instrument in a varied programme including music by Frank Bridge, Buxtehude, Dubois, Messiaen and Sweelinck.
Monday was dominated by the two competition semi-finals, where the ‘heat’ was on for three of the six performers (four male, two female) to progress to the final. We heard some exciting playing and a fabulous array of music by Bach, Brahms, Duruflé, Franck, Messiaen, Vierne and a number of contemporary composers including two performances of Patrick Gower’s Toccata. It must have been a difficult task for adjudicators Mark Lee (IAO) and Sarah MacDonald (RCO) to select the final three, but those chosen were Marcus McDevitt (New College, Oxford), Conor McGlone (Birmingham Cathedral) and Tingshuo Yang (St John’s College, Cambridge). All three finalists are offered a recital in a prestigious location as well as a cash prize.
While moving between the two semi-final locations, there was time to visit the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Peter & St Paul, a strikingly modern building with Brutalist architecture. We were welcomed by Director of Music Richard Jeffrey-Gray and Choral Director David Bednall, who gave details about its Rieger organ and then demonstrated the instrument.
During Monday evening, we visited the Lord Mayor’s Chapel in the city centre for a vocal recital by Eve Doyle (mezzo soprano) and Will Walshe-Grey (organ & piano), which included music by Jonathan Dove and Stanford. An unusual feature (for us) of this event was the inclusion of a commercial break: a reading from atmospheric novel ‘Cloister’ by Will Fraser (Fugue State Films) set in Bristol Cathedral, which several of us – taking advantage of the discounted price – decided to purchase.
Tuesday started at Redland Park United Reformed Church, housing a four-manual organ with pipework from an 1866 ‘Father’ Willis instrument. Following a talk by Tim Popple, author of Evensong: Notes form the Choir (reviewed on page 126 of last December’s magazine), we enjoyed a recital by Paul Walton, assistant organist of Bristol Cathedral, including music by Hakim, Vierne, Wesley and Whitlock.
The afternoon session began at one of Bristol Cathedral’s regular lunchtime recitals, but on this occasion we had persuaded the cathedral’s director of music and IAO president, Mark Lee, to perform. His programme, which attracted a large audience, included music by Alcock, Bruhns, Florence Price and Jongen’s Sonata Eroïca. After a short pause, we assembled in the choir stalls where Mark spoke about the recent reconstruction of the cathedral organ. Later, we transferred to the Chapter House where IAO chair David Saint interviewed Peter King about his life and work. The evening’s Festival Dinner provided an opportunity to meet friends old and new.
Wednesday was coach-trip day. First stop was St Monica’s Retirement Village, just north of Bristol, where the chapel houses a Willis organ. After a brief introduction by Eric Tyson, secretary of Bristol & District OA, IAO trustee Nicholas Miller demonstrated the organ by playing the five movements of Noel Rawsthorne’s posthumously published Chorale Fantasie on Wachet auf.
Next stop was St John’s Cirencester to hear our fourth four-manual organ (with two more to come). We were welcomed by resident organist Thomas Hawkes, who played a short recital of music by Bach, Cocker, Guilmant, Schmidt, Vierne and Yon. During the lunch break, festivalgoers were invited to play. With the Three Choirs Festival in full swing at Gloucester, we next hurried off there, joining a queue of many hundreds waiting to be admitted to the cathedral for a service of Choral Evensong being broadcast ‘live’ on BBC Radio 3. This was the first opportunity many of us had to hear the newly restored Nicholson organ – a glorious sound – and to sing on radio!
Thursday morning began with a visit to Bristol Beacon where another huge organ awaited us. Paul Walton gave a detailed guided tour of the instrument from the console, with tantalisingly short excerpts from many standard repertoire pieces to illustrate the vast range of available sounds. This culminated in a complete performance of York Bowen’s Fantasia, op.136. The festival concluded with the Open Consoles session: festivalgoers had the opportunity to try out several city centre instruments, including the cathedral and Redcliffe.
That leaves one more event: the competition final on the Wednesday evening. With Peter King now added to the panel, which of the three finalists would triumph? By common consent, we heard brilliant playing from all three; but outstanding on this occasion was Tingshuo Yang, who gained first prize for performances of Fantaisie in A (Franck), Naïades (Vierne) and Toccata from Suite op.5 (Duruflé).
The applause was prolonged and thoroughly deserved.
Bristol photos courtesy of Eric Shepherd
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