A new Assistant Organist for York Minster

A highly-accomplished musician has been appointed as York Minster’s new Assistant Organist. Adam Wilson will join the internationally-renowned York Minster music department on 21 August. Adam will join the cathedral’s music team led by Director of Music, Robert Sharpe and the Assistant Director of Music, Benjamin Morris.

Commenting on Adam’s appointment Robert Sharpe said: “I am looking forward to having Adam as part of our team, working alongside Ben Morris and me. He brings considerable experience from his time at Wells and I have no doubt he will enjoy being in York and getting to know the Minster, its people and its organ.”

Adam has been Acting Assistant Director of Music at Wells Cathedral since January 2023, having been Assistant Organist since September 2021. In this role, he is the principal Organist to the acclaimed Wells Cathedral Choir. As such, Adam has accompanied the full calendar of choral and civic services in the Cathedral, and has accompanied several concerts including Duruflé’s Requiem with the Cathedral Choir, Fauré’s Requiem and Rutter’s Magnificat with the Cathedral Oratorio Society, as well as various programmes in which he has played continuo.

In addition to his duties as an Organist, Adam has played a key role in assisting the Acting Director of Music in training the Choristers, particularly in being responsible for the musical development of the probationer Choristers, and in the running of the Music Department.

Prior to his appointment at Wells Cathedral, Adam spent two years as Acting Assistant Master of the Music at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, (including a period as Acting Master of the Music) where he was involved in the restoration of the cathedral’s 1879 ‘Father’ Willis organ. He has also held organ scholarships at Peterborough Cathedral, St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, the University of Glasgow, and Dunblane Cathedral.

In 2016, Adam was commissioned by Cottier Chamber Music Project to transcribe Scriabin’s symphonic epic, Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, for organ and piano. The performance, with pianist Nick Lauener, explored the traits of synesthesia, a neurological condition where senses overlap, in musicians. The music was accompanied by a light show which illuminated the chapel in a display designed around Scriabin’s own instructions for the use of a ‘colour organ’ in Prometheus, in collaboration with Glasgow Science Festival.

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