Max Kenworthy (born in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) has performed recitals throughout the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and has undertaken recordings, broadcasts and tours in

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and conducting. Max began playing

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

piano at school and has played with numerous ensembles in a variety of styles. After a prolonged absence from the jazz scene, Max decided to rekindle his interest in playing jazz music by forming his own trio – The Jazz-Tempered Trio – which is currently working on The Jazz-Tempered Clavier Project, a jazz interpretation of J.S. Bach's

Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...

. Now based in New Zealand, Max arrived in October 2002 to take up the position of assistant organist at

Saint Paul's Cathedral, Wellington The Wellington Cathedral of St Paul (also called St Paul's Cathedral or Wellington Cathedral) is an Anglican church in the city of Wellington, New Zealand. It is the mother church of the Diocese of Wellington and the cathedral of the Bishop of W ...

. Since then he has given solo recitals around the country and has also performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Wellington Sinfonia,

The Tudor Consort The Tudor Consort is a specialist early choral group based in Wellington, New Zealand. Depending on the repertoire the group can range in size from 5 to 25 members. The group was formed in 1986 by Simon Ravens with the intention of performing les ...

, the

Orpheus Choir of Wellington The Orpheus Choir of Wellington is an auditioned mixed-voice symphonic choir based in Wellington, New Zealand. It has over 150 members and regularly performs with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Wellington. History The Hutt Va ...

, the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

Band and NZ's premiere contemporary music ensemble, Stroma. In addition to his performing, Max has frequently conducted not only the cathedral's four choirs, but also Wellington based chamber choir Cantoris. He is featured on the CD “Favourite Hymns; Cathedral Classics” and recorded his first solo organ disk Organum Maximum in 2006. Max began his musical career as a chorister at

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Gr ...

, London. He started learning the organ at

Bradford Grammar School Bradford Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational independent day school located in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Entrance is by examination, except for the sixth form, where admission is based on GCSE results. The school g ...

before a year as Organ Scholar at Rochester Cathedral where he studied with Roger Sayer. Max then won an organ scholarship to

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

, studying with David Goode. After leaving Oxford Max was appointed assistant organist at Hampstead Parish Church and subsequently organist at St. Mary's Church, Barnes, London. He continued to study organ with Jeremy Filsell while also teaching piano and organ at The London Oratory School and Latymer Upper School. He is still much in demand as a teacher, and currently tutors at Queen Margaret's College and St Mark's School in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. Max has recently given organ recitals at Wanganui Collegiate School, the Anglican cathedrals in Napier and Dunedin, and St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20060629045421/http://www.jazztemperedtrio.org.nz/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenworthy, Max Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English classical organists British male organists Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Cathedral organists People educated at Bradford Grammar School 21st-century organists 21st-century British male musicians Male classical organists