Thomas Trotter, City Organist

Thomas Trotter is one of Britain’s most widely admired musicians, boasting an international career which has been firmly founded on his relationship with the City of Birmingham.

Appointed City Organist in 1983, in succession to Sir George Thalben-Ball, he presides over two of Europe’s finest instruments in a remarkable partnership of past and present: the historic instrument in Town Hall Birmingham (1834) and the modern Klais organ in Symphony Hall (2001). As Organist in Residence and Artistic Adviser at Symphony Hall he regularly performs in the Hall’s International Concert Series, and delivered the inaugural concerts for the magnificent Symphony Organ in October 2001. He has released three CDs featuring the Klais instrument – Pulling Out All The Stops, Sounds Spectacular, and Sounds Phenomenal – all of which have been critically acclaimed. Most notably Sounds Spectacular received a five-star review in the BBC Music Magazine which contained the assertion that the recording ‘confirms Trotter as one of today’s greatest living organists’. In July 2004 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Central England.

The excellence of his musicianship is reflected internationally in his musical partnerships. He performs as soloist with, amongst many others, the conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly and Sir Charles Mackerras. He has performed recitals in Berlin’s Philharmonie, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, both the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus in Vienna and London’s Royal Festival Hall. He has given the opening recital on new or restored organs in places such as Cleveland’s Severance Hall (Ohio), Princeton University Chapel (New Jersey), the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and at St David’s Hall in Cardiff and he is regularly asked to perform on major historic instruments such as those at St. Ouen in Rouen, St. Bavo’s in Haarlem (Netherlands), and Weingarten Abbey in Germany. He appears at the festivals of Salzburg, Berlin, Vienna, Edinburgh and London’s BBC Proms. He performs with leading orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic orchestras and made his first US appearance with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in 1987. In May 2002 he was the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious award for Best Instrumentalist, the first organist to receive this accolade. Past winners include András Schiff, Itzhak Perlman and Julian Bream.

He is also Organist at St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey in London and visiting Professor of Organ at the Royal College of Music, also in London. Earlier in his career he was organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge and he later continued his studies with Marie-Claire Alain in Paris where he took the Prix de Virtuositè in her class. He won First Prize at the St. Albans International Organ Competition in 1979 and made his debut in London’s Royal Festival Hall the following year.

Alongside his weekly recitals in Birmingham, Thomas Trotter regularly performs throughout the USA and Europe. He is an active recording artist and of his several recordings, releases of Messiaen and Mozart have been named “Critics Choice” in The Gramophone magazine and he received a Grand Prix du Disque for his recording of music by Liszt in 1995. He has given many first performances of new works and in March 2006 premiered the Organ Concerto by Piet Kee at the Haarlem Concertgebouw. Future engagements include performances in France, Luxemburg, Monaco, Iceland, Switzerland, Germany and tours to the USA and Australia.