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
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Byrd: The 3 Masses; Ave verum corpus
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Alonso Lobo: Lamentations & Other Sacred Music
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Sheppard: Media vita & Other Sacred Music
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Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 28.07.2017
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MacMillan: Tenebrae Responsories & Other Choral Works
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Miserere: A Sequence of Music for Lent, St Joseph & the Annunciation
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Christmas Vespers at Westminster Cathedral
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Palestrina: Music for Advent & Christmas
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vexilla regis: A Sequence of Music from Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday
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Klassik - Erschienen bei Ad Fontes am 23.02.2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Palestrina: Missa Tu es Petrus & Missa Te Deum laudamus
Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 09.03.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Klassik - Erschienen bei Priory Records am 05.08.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
From the Vaults of Westminster Cathedral
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sheppard: Media vita & Other Sacred Music
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms & Rheinberger: Masses & Motets
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Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.06.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Victoria: Missa De Beata Maria Virgine & Missa Surge propera
Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 31.10.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pictures at an Exhibition
Klassik - Erschienen bei Ad Fontes am 28.07.2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
MacMillan: Mass & Other Sacred Music
Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.04.2001
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Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker
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Victoria: Ave regina caelorum & Other Sacred Music
Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.10.2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maxwell Davies: Mass; Missa parvula & Other Choral Works
Westminster Cathedral Choir, Robert Quinney, Martin Baker
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 08.06.2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Palestrina: Lamentations for Easter, Book 3
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Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.03.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MacMillan: Tenebrae Responsories & Other Choral Works
Westminster Cathedral Choir, Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, Martin Baker
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo