Gerard Brooks is a concert organist and teacher of wide experience. He first studied the organ with John Webster, and was elected Organ Scholar at Lincoln College, Oxford. He then won the Stephen Arlen Memorial Award which enabled him to study with Daniel Roth in France at Strasbourg Conservatoire, where he was also active as an accompanist and tutor. He also studied with Susi Jeans and Nicolas Kynaston. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and was the first recipient of the Forsyth-Grant/Hurford Travelling Scholarship awarded by the RCO.
Gerard is Director of Music at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, and Curator Organist of the reconstructed 18th century Bridge organ of Christ Church, Spitalfields. He is also a tutor with the RCO/St. Giles Organ School and teaches organ at Latymer Upper School.
He has become particularly associated with French repertoire and has contributed many articles to musical journals as well as writing the chapter on French and Belgian organ music for the Cambridge Companion to the Organ. His recordings on the Priory label have all been broadcast on national radio and include the complete works of Eugène Gigout played on historic organs in France on five CDs, the first of which was voted an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine. He has also recorded the complete organ music of Saint-Saëns and is the presenter and one of the featured organists on the Fugue State Films DVD The Genius of Cavaillé-Coll which won the BBC Music Magazine Award for Best Documentary in 2014, and on Widor: Master of the Organ Symphony (2015). He has played with many orchestras, among them the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia and the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Gerard is a regular tutor on RSCM and RCO courses and has also taught for the London Organ Day, Oundle for Organists and the Edinburgh Organ Academy. He is the founding Director of the London Organ Improvisation Course and is on the examination panel of the Royal College of Organists. Concerts in recent years have taken him to England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and the USA.
Dear Gerard, I wish to express my sincere thanks to you, Andrew and the choir for your superb performance of my anthem ‘Sing unto the Lord’ at MCHW on Sunday 12th May during LFCCM. It was exactly as I hoped it would sound – full of verve and life. Andrew’s playing was wonderful and the balance between choir and organ was spot-on. Also thank you so much for choosing my piece for the anthem. I very happily give my permission if ever you wish to perform it again at future services. Best wishes, Derry Bertenshaw
Thanks Derry, it was a pleasure to sing your piece! – I will pass on your kind comments to the choir. Just right for us in terms of difficulty.
All the very best!
Gerard.