Marcus Huxley (born 11 December 1949) is an English cathedral organist, who served in St. Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham between 1986 and 2017.

Background

Marcus Richard Huxley was born in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England. He was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford, and was organ scholar at Worcester College, Oxford, from 1972 to 1974, and studied organ under

Marie-Claire Alain Marie-Claire Geneviève Alain-Gommier (10 August 1926 – 26 February 2013) was a French organist, scholar and teacher best known for her prolific recording career, with 260 recordings, making her the most-recorded classical organist in the world ...

He was conductor of the Ilkley and Otley Choral Society from 1980 to 1984. He was Director of the York Early Music Choir from 1980 to 1986. He won joint 2nd prize and Audience Prize at the Interpretation Competition at the

St Albans International Organ Festival The International Organ Festival (IOF) is a biennial music festival and organ competition held in St Albans, England since 1963. Originally held annually, it was changed to every two years in 1965 due to the complexity of organising the increasin ...

in 1977. He was an organ tutor at

Birmingham Conservatoire The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides professional education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly res ...

. A CD featuring sacred choral works by Huxley, performed by the choir of St Philip's Cathedral, was released in 2010 on Regent Records. In addition to staples of the Anglican repertoire such as the Mass, the ''Magnificat'' and ''Nunc Dimittis'', and a setting of the Passion according to St Luke, it is notable for featuring a full setting of the alternative form of Evening Prayer authorised in the year 2000 as part of the Common Worship series, using considerably more modern language than the 1662

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

which forms the basis of traditional

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

and Evening Prayer services.Huxley, Marcus (2010). Notes to ''A Song of the Light'', Regent Records CD REGCD361.

Career

Assistant Organist of : *

Ripon Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, i ...

1974 - 1986 Organist of: * St. Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham 1986 - 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huxley, Marcus English classical organists British male organists Cathedral organists 1949 births Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford People from Chelmsford Living people Date of birth missing (living people) People from Birmingham, West Midlands 21st-century organists 21st-century British male musicians Male classical organists