John Anthony Birch (9 July 1929 – 28 April 2012) was a British organist and choral director. He was educated at

Trent College Trent College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school located in Long Eaton, Derbyshire between Nottingham and Derby. Founded in 1868 as a local ’middle class alternative’ to the more famous public schools, it is now a coedu ...

, Derbyshire and left in July 1947 to study at the Royal College of Music, London. In 1953 he became Organist and Master of the Choristers at a prominent Anglo-Catholic church: All Saints, Margaret Street, London. In 1958 Birch moved to Chichester to be Organist and Master of the Choristers at Chichester Cathedral. During his time at the Cathedral, he worked closely with Dean

Walter Hussey John Walter Atherton Hussey (15 May 1909 – 25 July 1985) was an English priest of the Church of England who had a great fondness for the arts, commissioning a number of musical compositions and visual art for the church as well as amassing his ...

in the commissioning of new choral works for the Cathedral Choir, including pieces from composers

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

, William Walton,

Lennox Berkeley Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley (12 May 190326 December 1989) was an English composer. Biography Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in Oxford, England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of Sir James Char ...

, William Albright,

Bryan Kelly Bryan George Kelly (born January 3, 1934) is an English composer, conductor, and pianist from Oxford. He was a choir boy at Worcester College and attended Southfield Grammar School. After lessons with Harold Spicer, the long-serving organist and ...

and Herbert Howells. In 1959, Birch was appointed as a Professor of Organ at the Royal College of Music, where he continued to lecture until 1997. He was one of the founders of the revived Southern Cathedrals Festival (with his colleagues at Salisbury and Winchester Cathedrals) in 1960. Birch was University Organist at the University of Sussex from 1967 to 1994 and worked as a Visiting Lecturer in Music from 1971 to 1983.
His pupils included organist Stuart Nicholson, tenor Rogers Covey-Crump, and composers Adrian Jack and

Robert Prizeman Robert Gordon Prizeman (28 February 1952 – 8 September 2021) was a British composer. He was born in the London Borough of Lambeth. He attended the Royal College of Music in South Kensington. Prizeman studied organ with Timothy Farrell and John B ...

. In 1982, Birch became Director of Music at Temple Church. Two years later, he was appointed to the role of Curator-Organist at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, a position he held until his death. In the posts at the Temple Church and the Royal Albert Hall, Dr Birch was the successor to Sir

George Thalben-Ball Sir George Thomas Thalben-Ball (18 June 1896 – 18 January 1987) was an Australian organist and composer who spent almost all his life in England. Early life George Thomas Ball (he later took the additional name of "Thalben") was born in Sydn ...

. Birch was, in addition, the long-serving organist for the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

and recorded widely, particularly in orchestral repertoire. He had, earlier, served with great distinction as accompanist and organist to the

Royal Choral Society The Royal Choral Society (RCS) is an amateur choir, based in London. History Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir' ...

working closely with

Sir Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...

. John Birch held an honorary MA from the University of Sussex and the Lambeth degree of Doctor of Music. John Birch died on 28 April 2012 aged 82 after suffering a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, John 1929 births 2012 deaths English classical organists British male organists Cathedral organists British music educators Academics of the University of Sussex Alumni of the Royal College of Music Academics of the Royal College of Music Organists & Masters of the Choristers of Chichester Cathedral People educated at Trent College Place of birth missing 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century British male musicians Male classical organists