Robert Quinney
Robert Quinney carries on a long English tradition of conducting collegiate choirs, performing as an organ soloist, and teaching. Since 2014, he has been the conductor of the New College Choir, Oxford.
Quinney was born in 1976 in Nottingham, U.K. As with so many other figures in the field of English choral music, he began his musical career as a boy chorister at Dundee Cathedral and then at All Saints Ecclesall Church in Sheffield; at the latter institution, he learned to play the organ. Quinney attended the boarding school Eton College on a scholarship and then went on to King's College, Cambridge, as an organ scholar (an organist whose university expenses are paid in exchange for providing music at services) from 1995 to 1998. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees at King's and then began his professional career as Acting Sub-Organist of Westminster Abbey, where he spent a year before becoming Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral in 2000. That position involved a heavy schedule of choral conducting with Westminster's Cathedral Choir as well as frequent organ recitals, including one in which he played Francis Pott's difficult Christus. He led the Westminster Cathedral Choir on tours of the U.S. and Australia. At both Westminster and Oxford, Quinney made recordings both as organist and choir director. For the Hyperion label in 2005, he performed on the organ in the Westminster Cathedral Choir's recording of the Vaughan Williams Mass in G minor.
In 2011, Quinney was the organist at the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton. He held other positions in the early 2010s, including director of music at Peterborough Cathedral in 2013 -- where he oversaw the renovation of the cathedral's organ -- and director of the school Oundle for Organists. In 2014, Quinney was named organist, Tutorial Fellow, and choral director at New College, Oxford, a position that also entailed his elevation to the post of associate professor of music; he succeeded Edward Higginbottom, who had built an international reputation for the New College Choir, Oxford. Quinney has made solo organ recordings for the Signum Classics, Coro, and Novum labels. At New College, Oxford, he has continued the recording program instituted by Higginbottom. He and the choir moved to the Linn label for Media Vita, a recording of music by John Sheppard, in 2020. In 2023, Quinney and the New College Choir released the album New College; Commissions & Premieres on Linn.
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Discography
15 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Sheppard: Media vita
Choir of New College Oxford, Robert Quinney
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 23 Oct 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Trio Sonatas For Organ
Classical - Released by CORO on 26 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gradualia (1607)
Ensemble Plus Ultra, Robert Quinney
Classical - Released by Musica Omnia on 5 Aug 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rejoice, the Lord is King: Great Hymns from Westminster Abbey
James O'Donnell, Robert Quinney, The Choir Of Westminster Abbey
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 5 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
New College: Commissions & Premieres
Robert Quinney, Choir of New College Oxford
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 23 Jun 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
L'orgue de la cathédrale de Westminster
Classical - Released by Signum Records on 7 Nov 2006
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Organ of Westminster Abbey: Works by Edward Elgar
Classical - Released by Signum Records on 1 Jul 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J. S. Bach: Organ Works, Vol. IV
Classical - Released by CORO Connections on 27 Oct 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rejoice, the Lord is King: Great Hymns from Westminster Abbey
James O'Donnell, Robert Quinney, The Choir Of Westminster Abbey
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 5 Jan 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Byrd: Gradualia (1607)
Ensemble Plus Ultra, Robert Quinney, Clare Wilkinson
Classical - Released by Musica Omnia on 5 Aug 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fantasia super 'Komm, Heiliger Geist', BWV 651
Classical - Released by CORO Connections on 11 Sep 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: Great is the Lord; Te Deum & Other Works
Robert Quinney, James O'Donnell, The Choir Of Westminster Abbey
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Feb 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Gate of Heaven: Favorite Anthems from New College
Choir of New College Oxford, Robert Quinney, Timothy Wakerell, Unknown Artist
Classical - Released by Novum on 5 May 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Maxwell Davies: Mass; Missa parvula & Other Choral Works
Westminster Cathedral Choir, Robert Quinney, Martin Baker
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 May 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Feast of St Edward at Westminster Abbey
Robert Quinney, James O'Donnell, The Choir Of Westminster Abbey
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Sep 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo