Christopher Bowers-Broadbent

Christopher Bowers-Broadbent is an organist and composer whose career has taken him to many areas of the globe. He gained an early musical education as a chorister in the choir of King’s College, Cambridge. Then, after a formal education at Berkhamstead School, he studied both organ and composition at London’s Royal Academy of Music, where he subsequently became Professor of Organ, from 1973 to 1992, and a Fellow. His appearance on many CDs, in particular for ECM in music by Arvo Pärt (with whom he has worked closely for over twenty years), has brought him widespread recognition. He virtually commuted to Germany during last year, appeared in a Prom Concert in August, and recorded and toured extensively in Estonia throughout September. So far this year he has toured the United States with the Estonian Chamber Choir and worked in Italy with the Hilliard Ensemble. He has been Organist and Choirmaster of Gray’s Inn since 1984, and Organist of the West London Synagogue (with rare ecumenical aplomb) since 1973. He has never ceased to compose works of all genres, and some recent ones include a 35-minute orchestral piece A ship bound for Tarshish (based on the book of Jonah – one of many collaborations with painter Elizabeth Hannaford), The Song at the Sea for organ, strings and timpani (premiered in North Germany in 2002 and performed in Norway earlier this year), 7 Words (an organ solo in seven movements commissioned by the Leipzig Gewandhaus) and the final re-write of his 1982 opera The Last Man, which was performed in Gray’s Inn Hall in 2003. He has just completed two short pieces from the German vocal group Singer Pur, and is now working on a large commission from the Estonian Chamber Choir for performance in 2007.

Media Vita (1996) was performed during the 2006 AFNOM festival in London.

Contact information

Christopher Bowers-Broadbent
94 Colney Hatch Lane
Muswell Hill
London N10 1EA
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 208 883 1933
Email: chris@christopherbowers-broadbent.com
www.christopherbowers-broadbent.com