On Wednesday 9th April we welcome Alexander Binns from Derby Cathedral for our eleventh organ recital of 2025. In this edition of ‘Notes from an Organist’ we discover more about them, and what to expect from their recital, including performing for members of the Royal Family; playing the organ in Iceland; and accompanying silent movies with music.

Could you introduce yourself, how you got into music / become an organist and your musical journey to where you are today?
I was a chorister at Halifax Parish Church in the late 1990s/early 2000s, where I started learning the organ with the great Philip Tordoff, eventually becoming the church’s organ scholar. Following a spell as organ scholar at Leeds Parish Church in sixth form, I spent a gap year as organ scholar at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle – quite a thing for a state schoolboy from the north of England. From there, I went to London for five years of study at the Royal Academy of Music (four as an undergraduate and one as a postgraduate), alongside which I held organ scholarships at various London churches including the Royal Hospital Chelsea Chapel and Southwark Cathedral. After six years in the big smoke and with an ambition to be a Cathedral musician, I moved to St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Suffolk as Assistant Director of Music for three years, before taking up my current job as Director of Music at Derby Cathedral nearly six years ago.

What can people expect from your recital at Bradford Cathedral?
As a Cathedral musician, I love the cycle of the liturgical year, and I hope that from my recital, people can expect a range of music for Passiontide. Bach’s uplifting Valet will ich dir geben reflects the celebration of Christ riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, which contrasts with the chromatic and darker moods of Leighton’s Hymn Prelude on Rockingham – the tune to When I survey the wondrous cross. I’m also including Leo Sowerby’s wonderfully colourful setting of Where you there when they crucified my Lord.

Why do you enjoy playing the organ?
The organ was my first love in music. I love my job and the varied lifestyle it brings; directing the choirs, managing a busy and expanding department, attending meetings, teaching, building links with a number of partners, overseeing a schools’ singing programme, but it doesn’t leave much time for organ practice. As a result, it’s always nice to find time to play amongst the very busy lifestyle.

Do you have a particular favourite piece out of those you are playing?
It’s definitely the Bach Prelude and Fugue in E minor BWV548. I played it in my final recital as a student and I fell in love with it from the first time I heard it. It’s a late work, unlike most of Bach’s organ works, and is often nicknamed ‘the wedge’ because of the fugue subject which expands chromatically outwards.

What are your hopes or plans musically for 2025?
We’re just gearing up for our performance of the Bach St John Passion with the Cathedral Choir and Sinfonia Viva, the professional orchestra for the East Midlands. I’ve also got a silent film accompaniment, a performance of Handel’s Messiah at Christmas, a tour with the Cathedral Choir and lots of other exciting performances and collaborations. All that is on top of the daily round of services, which keeps me grounded!

You were the youngest Director of Music in an English Cathedral. What was it like to hold the accolade?
Sadly, this is an accolade which you only hold for a time, and I’ve now been superseded. It was nice to be the ‘baby’ for a little while, but we all grow older eventually. Don’t get old!

You are responsible for the ‘Music in Schools programme’ in Derby. What is it like to bring music to so many young people?
Our Music in Schools programme currently works with over 900 children each week in 18 schools and is growing all the time. Although I don’t deliver our sessions myself, the programme is my baby, and I manage the programme and the members of our team that deliver in schools. We are offering a first-rate musical education to children that wouldn’t otherwise have access and provide them with a pathway to Cathedral Choirs, should they wish to take it further. I love attending sessions or performances and seeing how much the children engage with what we do. My colleagues do all the hard work, and they’re amazing!

You conducted the St George’s Chapel Windsor Castle choir, playing for members of the Royal Family. What was that like to be involved in?
I was very young and inexperienced at the time, being only 18. The first time I conducted in a service I started beating before the organ had given the chord for the choir! Nonetheless, it was an incredible experience to work with a world-famous professional choir, and I learnt a lot from the singers about how to approach directing a performance.

You’ve played across the world, including in Iceland – what was that performance like?
I played in Iceland as part of the Southwark Cathedral Choir tour in 2015. Iceland is an incredible country and the highlight was playing for the Sunday morning service in the Hallgrimskirkja, the main church in Reykjavik. The service was sung jointly by their choir and the Cathedral Choir, and I accompanied some of the service and played the Bach Fugue in F BWV540 as the voluntary. It’s an incredible instrument and was a very memorable occasion.

You also premiered a work composed by Anthony Gray, our previous Assistant Director of Music. What was that like to be involved in?
I run a community choir in Derby called Derventio. They perform a real mix of lots of musical styles, and it allows me to ‘let my hair down’ with more light-hearted choral repertoire – we’re singing a concert of songs from the shows in a few weeks. Last year, for our 30th anniversary, we held a composition competition and Anthony’s was the winning entry. He wrote a beautifully lyrical piece, and we’re due to sing it again this summer.

You’ve recently performed accompaniments to silent movies. What makes for a good accompaniment?
Silent film accompaniments are generally improvised. When improvising, I find that listeners are more open minded to dissonance that in written down compositions, so you can be more edgy than normal. The main thing is to be descriptive in what you play – the music must mirror what is happening on screen, and it mustn’t just sound like pre-Evensong ‘waffle’. You need to know the movie very well so that you know what is about to happen.

In March the Derby choir performed Bryan Kelly’s Jamaican Canticles at Evensong. What attracted you to that piece?
Planning a Cathedral music list is an art form. Aside from the liturgical requirements, one must factor in the difficulty and musical style to ‘curate’ each service. It’s also important, if you’re to get the best out of your singers, to put down stimulating repertoire, and I regularly ask choristers whether they enjoy the music we’re singing. The Kelly came as a request from one of our older girl choristers, and I must admit that it’s not a piece that I go crazy for, but quite a few of our choristers really enjoyed it!

Finally, how would you sum up your upcoming recital at Bradford Cathedral?
A journey through Passiontide and Holy Week through some of my favourite seasonal music.

You can join us on Wednesday 9th April at 1pm to hear Alexander’s organ recital, with an optional £4 buffet lunch beforehand at 12:30pm. You can find out more about him on his website, X account, or on Instagram.

You can discover more about our organ recital season on our dedicated page.