Colin Andrews, organ 

"A Tale of Three Cities": Leipzig, London & Paris 

ti 1.8. klo 18 Taulumäki church

Program:

Leipzig: 

Works of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): 

Fantasia in C minor BWV 562 

From the Leipzig autograph: 

"Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr" BWV 662 

Passacaglia and Fuga in C minor BWV 582 

From the "Orgelbuchlein": 

"O Mensch, bewein, dein Sunde gross" BWV 622 

London: 

Three Royal Fanfares (1960)  Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975) 

Psalm-Prelude No. 1, Set 1 (1914-18)  Herbert Howells (1892-1983) 

Toccata "Fluorescence" (1973) Op.22  Paul Patterson (born 1947) 

Paris: 

From "Trois Pieces" (1878)  Cesar Franck (1820-1890) 

Variations de Concert (1906) Op. 1  Joseph Bonnet (1884-1944) 

Biography: Colin Andrews

"...Colin Andrews showed distinction as a Bach player..." Royal Festival Hall, London 

 
"...Andrews is good at establishing atmosphere."  The Gramophone 

"...To close, Colin Andrews raised the roof with one of the most virtuosic Messiaen performances I have heard" ("Livre du Saint Sacrement") Magnus Andersson, review of Messiaen Complete Works marathon concert, Stavanger Konserthus, Norway, November 17 2018 

"...In the hands of Colin Andrews the work ("Livre du Saint Sacrement", Messiaen) speaks with a cosmic flourish and deeply interior dialogue that is movingly spectacular, experientially radical, yet tied to a deep spiritual understanding."   Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review 

"...Andrews is a master at capturing the grandeur, spaciousness and reverence of this music and he offers new and compelling interpretations.  He is not afraid to explore what Messiaen himself described as"extremely delicate variations of rhythm and tempo"-inflections that are intensely personal, impossible to notate and frequently captivating...the enormous variery of touches called for across the cycle are worthy of mention..."  Sydney Organ Journal, Australia, review of complete Messiaen recordings. 

"...Colin Andrews comes through with a reading that underscores the complexities, but also draws coherently, the outline of the ongoing structural essences...in his hands there is great sympathy and understanding for the work and its fullness." ("Meditations sur le Mystere de la Sainte Trinite", Messiaen)  Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review 

Since his debut at the age of eighteen, Colin Andrews has been recognized as a musician of great versatility, power and artistry.  Born in Bristol, England, Andrews initally studied with Garth Benson of St. Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol.  At sixteen, he entered London's Royal Academy of Music for four years of organ and piano study under principal Professors, Douglas Hawkridge & Margaret McDonald.  He later moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where he was a student of Professor Lionel Rogg at the Conservatoire de Musique.  Following his return to Britain, he studied privately for two years with Dame Gillian Weir. 

Colin Andrews has been the recipient of many awards, most notably, he was a prizewinner at both the 1980 and 1982 Dublin International Organ Competitions in Ireland, and, in 1993, The Royal Academy of Music, London, bestowed an Associateship upon him in recognition of his distinguished performing career. 

Mr. Andrews has toured worldwide as a solo recitalist.  He has appeared at many of the world's most prestigious venues, including The Royal Festival Hall, London; King's College, Cambridge; The Moscow Conservatoire (Bolshoi & Rachmaninov Halls), The St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall & Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, Russia; The Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris (three appearances); La Madeleine, St. Eustache & La Trinite, Paris; The National Conventions of The American Guild of Organists, The Incorporated Association of Organists, UK and New Zealand Association of Organists; Yale, Duke & Stanford Universities, USA; all of the major concert halls in Asia, including Suntory Hall, Tokyo; Hong Kong Cultural Center; The Beijing National Center for the Performing Arts; Shanghai Oriental Arts Center; Dewan Philharmonic Petronas, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Sejong Cultural Center, Seoul, South Korea; Esplanade Theatres on-the-Bay, Singapore; Chiang-Kai Shek National Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan; Sydney Town Hall, Australia; Auckland Town Hall, New Zealand; The Bamboo Organ Festival, Manila, Philippines, and leading halls, Cathedrals & Churches in Thailand, South Korea, South America, Iceland, South Africa & most of East and Western Europe, including trans-continental tours of Russia.  In 2015, Colin Andrews gave the opening recital on the restored organ of the Yakaterinburg Philharmonic Hall in Siberia. 

In addition to his recitals, Colin Andrews is an active teacher and lecturer, and has given presentations at, among other venues, The Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest; Taiwan Theological College; Pipe Organ Encounters for the AGO; Oundle Summer School & The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, UK; Emory University, Atlanta, GA; The Moscow Conservatoire, St. Petersburg Conservatoire, Russia, and the 1998 AGO National Convention. 

He has recorded thirty broadcasts for the BBC in the UK and has appeared on local and national television in the USA ("The Hour of Power"), Russia, Poland, UK, Japan & New Zealand.  His fourteen commercial compact discs are available on the Gothic, Loft, Naxos, Priory & Zig Zag labels and can also be found on YouTube, Apple Music & Spotify. 

Colin Andrews has served as a jury member for the International Organ Competitions at The University of Michigan and for both the 1995 & 1997 J.P. Sweelinck Competitions in Gdansk, Poland.  Mr. Andrews was jury President and recitalist for the 2006 Felix Nowowiejski Organ Competition  in Poznan, Poland.  He has served as a national councilor and local President of the Incorporated Association of Organists, UK. 

Among his church positions has been a twelve year tenure as Organist & Master of the Choristers at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Goldsboro, North Carolina.  In 2004, he led the choir from this parish on a concert tour of British Cathedrals;  his choir has also sung the office of Evensong at Washington National Cathedral. 

During the 2000/2001 academic year, Mr. Andrews was visiting lecturer in Organ and Sacred Music at East Carolina University.  In the fall of 2005, Mr. Andrews joined the faculty there teaching applied organ and associated courses.  During the 2008/2009 academic year, Andrews was interim Director of the Organ and Sacred Music programs at East Carolina University, fulfilling all teaching and administrative activities in the discipline.  Colin Andrews's students have distinguished themselves at the national and international levels of the organ competition circuit and have been accepted at all of the major institutions in the US, many hold prestigious academic and church positions.  During his twenty year tenure in North Carolina, Mr. Andrews served as an organ consultant for seventeen different projects in North Carolina and Virginia. 

In 2009, Colin Andrews joined the Organ faculty at Indiana University, where he taught applied organ, Organ Pedagogy & History of Sacred Music and Worship until the spring of 2015. During his time at Indiana University, Colin Andrews led an intiative to start online courses in Organ & Sacred Music.  He currently serves as Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church, Franklin, Indiana. 

Colin Andrews is one of only four organists in the world to have recorded the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen.  In 2012, Mr. Andrews was named a "Membre d'Honneur" of the "Association Grand Orgue Trinite Messiaen" based at the composer's church, "l'Eglise de la Sainte Trinite" in Paris, where Messiaen served for sixty-one years.  Mr. Andrews' recording of Messiaen's "l'Ascension" & "Messe de la Pentecote" was voted into the top ten sacred music recordings for 2012 by "Christianity Today." 

Between 2017 and 2019, Colin Andrews gave one hundred-and-thirty-six concerts across the globe in Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Russia, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Poland, The Netherlands,Italy, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Germany, France (third appearance at Notre-Dame de Paris, June 2017) UK & USA, including complete performances of Messiaen's "Livre du Saint Sacrement" at Stavanger Konserthus, Norway, as part of a marathon performance of the complete works, and, at King's College, Cambridge, UK.  

Engagements for the 2021/2022 season included a second appearance at the church of La Madeleine in Paris, Copenhagen & Haderslev Cathedrals, Denmark, Szeged Cathedral, Hungary, a tour of Italy and a visiting Professorship for the fall semester at Florida State University.  Further engagements include a complete performance of Messiaen's "La Nativite du Seigneur" and a complete performance of his "Livre du Saint Sacrement"for the Chicago and North Shore Chapters of the American Guild of Organists at Loyola University.  2023 will bring recital tours of Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Latvia, UK, Slovakia, Croatia, Norway,Finland, Italy and the USA.  Mr. Andrews will be continuing as visiting Professor at Florida State University and also be fulfilling a similar role at East Carolina University.