Categories:
Cart 0

Your cart is empty

Martin Baker

As Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral from 2000 to 2019, Martin Baker is a central figure in the worlds of both organ playing and choral conducting in Britain. At home and abroad, Baker is in demand for both organ concerts and choral music workshops, and he is often heard in both keyboard and conducting capacities in choral recordings of core British repertory on the Hyperion label. Baker was born in Manchester, England, on July 26, 1967. By the time he enrolled at Downing College, Cambridge, as an Organ Scholar in 1985, he already had many years of study behind him at the Royal Northern College of Music Junior School, Chetham's School of Music, and St. Ambrose College. After graduating from Cambridge in 1988, he was appointed Organ Scholar at Westminster Cathedral. Paid employment began with a stint as assistant organist at St. Paul's Cathedral in London in 1990, followed by posts as sub-organist and then acting organist at Westminster Abbey. He is also a noted organ improviser and won first prize in improvisation at the St. Albans International Organ Festival in 1997. In 2000, he was chosen as Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral. His responsibilities there included directing daily choral programs as well as giving organ concerts and joining the Westminster Cathedral Choir in concerts and recordings. Under Baker, the Westminster Cathedral Choir premiered works by major British composers, including James MacMillan, Peter Maxwell Davies, Judith Bingham, and John Tavener. He led the choir on tours of the U.S. and Europe, including in Hungary, Germany, and Belgium, among others. Baker was invited to address the Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican on the Liturgical Role of the Choir in 2005. The following year, he founded the Conference of Catholic Directors of Music. His large catalog of music on Hyperion includes (as conductor) Media Vita, a collection of music by John Sheppard that appeared in 2017. That year, Baker was chosen as president of the Royal College of Organists, an organization for the promotion and advancement of organ playing and choral directing. He continues to tour widely and made several U.S. appearances in mid-2018. In 2019, Baker stepped down as Master of Music at Westminster and was succeeded by Simon Johnson. He continues to record, backing the Choir of Royal Holloway, University of London, on organ on a 2022 recording of Dan Lacklair's Requiem.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Listen

Similar artists

Huw Williams
Stephen Cleobury
Benjamin Nicholas
Charles Cole
James O'Donnell

Discography

26 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller

1 2
1 2

My favorites

Cet élément a bien été <span>ajouté / retiré</span> de vos favoris.

Sort and filter releases