Celebrity Concert

Dame Gillian Weir, organist
Pre-concert talk
 

About Gillian Weir

GILLIAN WEIR has become established as a distinguished musician known for her virtuosity and integrity, her reputation extending well beyond the world of the organ. Her renown as a performer is backed by her scholarly reputation; she is in demand as an adjudicator for the leading international competitions and as lecturer, broadcaster, teacher and writer, while her television appearances have reached vast new audiences.

She has performed the complete works of Bach as well as others including Messiaen, and her pre-eminent position as Messiaen interpreter has been underlined with her recording of his complete organ works, as well as her contribution to Faber’s The Messiaen Companion and other publications.

Gillian Weir has received many awards and honours, and in the 1996 New Year’s Honours List was created Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her services to music. Her achievements have been marked by her nomination by Classic CD magazine as one of the 100 greatest Keyboard Players of the 20th Century.

She is the Prince Consort Professor of Organ at the Royal College of Music, London, Distinguished Visiting Artist at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore, MD, and is sought after for her master classes and as Artist-in-Residence.

Gillian Weir’s career continues to encompass the globe. Recent highlights have included performances at the spectacular Disney Hall in Los Angeles and the new Esplanade Hall in Singapore, as well as the first full-scale recital for several decades at the Royal Albert Hall, to an audience of over 2000. She spent a large part of 2007 in the United States where she gave recitals in Florida and elsewhere, as well as the opening concert of the famous organ at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, after its recent major refurbishment.
Recent recitals have included Durham Cathedral, Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Galleries, and the Grand Organ Festival at Westminster Cathedral London, before performing as concerto soloist in the 2007 Edinburgh Festival with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
 

Web site: http://www.gillianweir.com