James Anthony O'Donnell (born 15 August 1961) is a British organist, choral conductor and academic teacher who has been a professor of organ at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, United States, since 2023.Yale University, Yale School of Music, People: James O'Donnell, Institute of Sacred Music
Retrieved 17 January 2023 He previously served as Organist and Master of the Choristers at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

from 2000 to 2022, during which time he was responsible for the music at several royal and state functions, including the funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002, the

wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. William was second in the line of succession to the British throne at the time, later becoming heir apparent. T ...

in 2011, the service of thanksgiving for

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

, in 2022 and the

state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Elizabeth's reign of 70 years and 214 days was the List of monarchs in Britain by length of ...

, also in 2022. O'Donnell taught at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

in London from 1997 to 2004 and was president of the

Royal College of Organists The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...

from 2011 to 2013.

Early life and education

Born in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, O'Donnell later moved to England, where he attended

Westcliff High School for Boys Westcliff High School for Boys (WHSB) is an 11–18 selective boys Academy (English school), academy grammar school in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England. In September 2001 the school was awarded ‘Beacon’ status for its breadth of achievements ...

in Essex before gaining a scholarship for organ and

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

. He then studied at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where he was organ scholar at Jesus College. He studied with Peter Hurford, Nicolas Kynaston and David Sanger and graduated in 1982.

Career

Westminster Cathedral

O'Donnell was appointed Assistant Master of Music at

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, is the largest Catholic Church in England and Wales, Roman Catholic church in England and Wales. The shrine is dedicated to the Blood of Jesus Ch ...

in 1982, becoming Master of Music in 1988. During his tenure, the profile and international reputation of the cathedral choir increased. A 1998 recording of masses for choir ''

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

'' by Frank Martin and

Ildebrando Pizzetti Ildebrando Pizzetti (20 September 1880 – 13 February 1968) was an Italian composer of classical music, as well as a musicologist and a music critic. Biography Pizzetti was born in Parma in 1880. He was part of the "Generation of 1880" alon ...

received both the Record of the Year award from ''

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

'' and a Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award in 1999, which was unprecedented for a cathedral choir.

Westminster Abbey

In 2000 O'Donnell was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at

, the first

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

to be appointed to the nearly 500-year-old role. At the abbey he was responsible for the daily choral services, functions for special occasions, concerts, broadcasts, recordings and tours. With the abbey choir he travelled throughout Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia. Among the occasions of national prominence for which O'Donnell led the music were the funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002, the

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of state, head of a sovereign state, sovereign country (or Governor-general, representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or ...

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

in 2010, the

in 2011 and the service of thanksgiving for

, in 2022. On 14 September 2022 he conducted his own choral setting of words from Psalm 139 (verses 1−18 and 23−24) for the reception of the Queen Elizabeth II's coffin at

Westminster Hall Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...

, which was sung by the Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Choir of His Majesty's Chapel Royal. On 19 September he led the choir at the

at Westminster Abbey, including a new setting of " Like as the hart" by Judith Weir and a new anthem, " Who shall separate us?", by James MacMillan. His arrangement of

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...

's ''Angularis Fundamentum'' was performed at the

coronation of Charles III and Camilla The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, Camilla, as Monarchy of the United Kingdom, king and List of British royal consorts, queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth re ...

in 2023. O'Donnell's final service at Westminster Abbey was on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

2022, after which he took up a teaching role at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in the United States while also holding the position of organist emeritus at the abbey.Westminster Abbey, "James O'Donnell honoured in New Year list"
2 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023. In 2023 he was also appointed artist-in-residence at Christ Church in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

Teaching and other positions

O'Donnell was professor of

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

at the

from 1997 to 2004, and remains a visiting professor. and is currently a visiting professor of organ and choral conducting there. He was artist-in-residence at the

Yale School of Music The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a joi ...

in 2010 and in 2023 was appointed Professor in the Practice of Organ and Sacred Music at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He served as President of the

from 2011 to 2013.

Concerts and recordings

In 1987 O'Donnell was awarded first prize in the

Performer of the Year competition. He has since appeared as a concert organist around the world, including at the Meyerson Symphony Center in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, the

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 23, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Av ...

in Los Angeles and the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. He has played at festivals such as the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

and as a soloist with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

, including in a performance of Poulenc's ''

Organ Concerto An organ concerto is a type of classical music composition in which a pipe organ soloist is accompanied by an orchestra, although some works exist with the name "concerto" which are for organ alone. The orchestral form first evolved in the 18th ...

'' at the opening of the restored

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

, conducted by

Yannick Nézet-Séguin Yannick Nézet-Séguin, CC (; born Yannick Séguin;David Patrick Stearns, "Nezet-Seguin signs Philadelphia Orchestra contract". ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 19 June 2010. 6 March 1975) is a Canadian conductor and pianist. He is the music dir ...

. He has also performed as a soloist with the

BBC National Orchestra of Wales The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) () is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisation in Wales, occupying a dual role as both ...

and the

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra The is recognized as the oldest symphony orchestra in Japan. It was founded in 1911 and debuted at the original Matsuzakaya store in Nagoya as the . It relocated to Tokyo in 1938. As of 2024, it has 166 members. The orchestra plays frequently a ...

. He appeared as a continuo player in concerts and recordings with period instrument ensembles, including The King's Consort and the Gabrieli Consort and Players. He conducted ensembles such as the

Academy of Ancient Music The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the A ...

, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the

BBC Singers The BBC Singers is a professional British chamber choir, employed by the BBC. Its origins can be traced to 1924. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time profes ...

and

The English Concert The English Concert is a baroque orchestra playing on period instruments based in London. Founded in 1972 and directed from the harpsichord by Trevor Pinnock for 30 years, it is now directed by harpsichordist Harry Bicket. Nadja Zwiener has b ...

. He has also served as the music director of St James' Baroque, a period instrument ensemble based in London. O'Donnell has made around 50 recordings as an organist and choral conductor, many of which were performed with the Westminster Cathedral Choir. He was the organist for a 1993 recording of works by Camille Saint-Saëns, reissued in 2019, including the

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

( Op. 54), the Third Symphony with organ (Op. 78) and the overture of '' La princesse jaune'' (Op. 30). The recording was performed by the

and combined choirs from Hertfordshire, Harlow and East London, with soloists Tinuke Olafimihan, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Anthony Roden and Simon Kirkbride, and was conducted by

Geoffrey Simon Geoffrey Philip Simon (born 3 July 1946) is an Australian conductor resident in London. Recordings Geoffrey Simon was born on 3 July 1946 in Adelaide. He was a student of Herbert von Karajan, Rudolf Kempe, Hans Swarowsky and Igor Markevit ...

. Conducting the Westminster Cathedral Choir, O'Donnell recorded works by Maurice Duruflé in 1995, including the

with organ and the ''

Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens ' (Four motets on Gregorian themes), Opus number, Op. 10, are four Sacred music, sacred motets composed by Maurice Duruflé in 1960, based on Gregorian chant, Gregorian Theme (music), themes. He set Ubi caritas et amor, Tota pulchra es, Tu es Petr ...

'', '' Notre Père'' and ''Messe cum jubilo''. In 1998 O'Donnell conducted the Westminster Cathedral Choir in two major recordings of sacred works for

choir, both composed in 1922: Martin's '' Mass for Double Choir'' and Pizzetti's ''Messa di Requiem''. A reviewer from '' Hi-Fi News'' commented that the singers responded to their conductor "in inspirational fashion" and noted "choral singing of great security and immaculate tonal blend, ardent and full-throated in tuttis yet wonderfully serene too". On the same

Hyperion Records Hyperion Records is a British classical music record label. It was independent until February 2023, when it was acquired by the Universal Music Group. Under Universal, Hyperion is one of the three main classical record labels, alongside Decca a ...

CD O'Donnell conducted Pizzetti's ''De profundis'' dating from 1837 and played Martin's ''Passacaille'' for organ, composed in 1944. Robert Layton from ''

'' wrote that "it is a measure of James O'Donnell's achievement with Westminster Cathedral Choir that the gain in purity and beauty is at no time at the expense of depth and fervour. This is an altogether moving and eloquent performance, often quite thrilling and always satisfying". In a 2014 live recording from the restored Royal Festival Hall, O'Donnell played both Poulenc's ''

'' and Saint-Saëns's Third Symphony with organ, with Nézet-Séguin conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra. A reviewer noted that he played the organ with "sensitivity and spark". In a 2014 recording entitled ''Music for Remembrance'', O'Donnell combined Duruflé's Requiem, in the orchestral version, with choral works written in memory of those fallen in the World Wars, including ''Three Prayers of

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, neo-orthodox theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the s ...

'' set by Philip Moore and ''The peace that surpasseth understanding'' by

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious music, religious works. Among his best known works are ''The Lamb (Tavener), The Lamb'' (1982), ''The ...

, performed by soloists Christine Rice and Roderick Williams, the Westminster Abbey Choir, the

Britten Sinfonia Britten Sinfonia is a chamber orchestra ensemble based in Cambridge, UK. It was created in 1992, following an initiative from Eastern Arts and a number of key figures including Nicholas Cleobury, who recognised the need for an orchestra in the ...

and organist Robert Quinney; it was conducted by O'Donnell and recorded at Westminster Abbey. He said at a recording session: "I spend my life working against the clock, and people don't make good music if they're under pressure. If you stay calm it gives everyone a sporting chance of getting on with it".

Honours and awards

O'Donnell was awarded the title of Knight Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great (KCSG) by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1999 on his retirement from Westminster Cathedral. He is a Fellow of the

Royal School of Church Music The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

(FRSCM), a Fellow of the Royal College of Music (FRCM) and an honorary member of the

(HonRAM). He became an honorary fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, in 2011, and in 2013 he received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

. O'Donnell was appointed Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) by

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

References

External links

* * Duffie, Bruce
Organist and Master of the Choristers James O'Donnell (conversation) 1998
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, James 1961 births Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Alumni of the Royal College of Music British classical organists English Roman Catholics Knights Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey 21st-century British organists British male classical organists Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order Yale School of Music faculty