Sir David Lumsden

Sir David James Lumsden (born 19 March 1928) is a musical educator, choirmaster, organist and harpsichordist. After studying music at Cambridge he was a church organist, and later an academic. He was principal of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow from 1976 to 1982 and of the Royal Academy of Music in London from 1982 to 1993.

Life and career

Lumsden was born in Newcastle upon Tyne.Webb, Stanley and Paul Hale
"Lumsden, Sir David"
''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 27 November 2017 He was educated at Dame Allan's School in Newcastle, and Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he was organ scholar from 1948 to 1951. He studied with Boris Ord and Thurston Dart, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1950 and Bachelor of Music in 1951. In 1951 he married Sheila Daniels; they had two sons and two daughters."Lumsden, Sir David (James)"
''Who's Who'', online edition, Oxford University Press 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2017 She died on 8 August 2022.

After leaving Cambridge, Lumsden held a succession of church appointments. He was assistant organist of St John's College, Cambridge, 1951–53; organist and choirmaster, St Mary's Church, Nottingham, 1954–56; and director of music and ''rector chori'', Southwell Minster, 1956–59. In 1956 he took his PhD, with a dissertation on Elizabethan lute music, a subject on which the ''Oxford Dictionary of Music'' ranks him as an authority.

Following his church career, Lumsden became fellow and organist of New College, Oxford and lecturer in the faculty of music, University of Oxford 1959–76; ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' says of his time there, "He inherited … a choir of high reputation and added to its lustre, as was evidenced by the choir's unusually diverse repertory, its recordings and its impact on audiences during two tours of the USA (1973 and 1975)". He was director of music at Keele University, 1958–59, and professor of harmony at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), London, 1959–61.

As a conductor, Lumsden was founder and conductor of the Nottingham Bach Society, 1954–59, and conducted the Oxford Harmonic Society, 1961–63, the Oxford Sinfonia, 1967–70, and the BBC Scottish Singers, 1977–80. As an organist and harpsichordist he was organist of the Sheldonian Theatre, 1964–76, choragus of Oxford University, 1968–72 and harpsichordist to the London Virtuosi, 1972–75, whose other players were principals of the London Symphony Orchestra.

From 1976 to 1982 Lumsden was principal of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow. He headed the "Save the BBC Scottish Orchestra" action committee in 1980; the BBC abandoned its plan to disband the orchestra.

Lumsden was appointed to succeed Sir Anthony Lewis as principal of the RAM from August 1982. He caused controversy in 1988 by what Nicholas Kenyon called "plans to create a high level conservatory … for soloists on the model of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia", cutting the academy's total number of students.Kenyon, Nicholas. "Discord at the Academy", ''The Observer'', 5 June 1988, p. 10 Kenyon added that "the plan caused a huge row with the other music colleges", which felt that this was an attempt to benefit the academy at their expense. Lumsden caused further controversy by bringing in world-famous musicians to "International Chairs" to pass on their knowledge. They included Sir Colin Davis, Lynn Harrell, Hans Werner Henze, Stephen Kovacevich, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Robert Tear. Some members of the RAM faculty felt that occasional visits from star performers added little and even detracted from the day-to-day work of the resident teaching staff.

During his time at the RAM Lumsden served as chairman of the National Youth Orchestra and the Early Music Society. He retired from the RAM in 1993.

Honours and awards

Lumsden was knighted in 1985. and received honorary fellowships, memberships or degrees from the Royal College of Organists (1976); the RAM (1978); the Royal College of Music (1980); the Royal Northern College of Music (1981); the RSAMD (1982); the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (1984); the Royal Society of Musicians (1984); the London College of Music (1985); the Royal Society of Arts (1985); the Royal School of Church Music (1987); Trinity College, London (1988); the University of Reading (1990); and King's College, London (1991). The Music Centre of his old school, Dame Allan's School, Newcastle upon Tyne is called the Lumsden Centre in his honour.

Publications

Lumsden has published two books: ''An Anthology of English Lute Music'', 1954; and ''Thomas Robinson’s Schoole of Musicke, 1603'', 1971. He contributed articles to publications including '' The Listener''; ''The Score''; ''Music & Letters''; the ''Galpin Society Journal''; ''La Luth et sa Musique''; and ''La Musique de la Renaissance''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lumsden, David
Living people
1928 births
English choral conductors
British male conductors (music)
English classical organists
British male organists
Cathedral organists
British music educators
Fellows of New College, Oxford
Academics of the Royal Academy of Music
Principals of the Royal Academy of Music
Fellows of King's College London
English harpsichordists
Knights Bachelor
Musicians awarded knighthoods
Fellows of the Royal College of Organists
21st-century British conductors (music)
21st-century organists
21st-century British male musicians
Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge
Male classical organists