Christopher Herrick
| Christopher Herrick | |
|---|---|
Christopher Herrick at Trinity College, Cambridge, UK
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| Background information | |
| Born |
23 May 1942 Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Genres | Classical music |
| Occupation(s) | Concert organist |
| Instruments | Organ (pipe) |
| Years active | 1960–present |
| Labels | Hyperion |
| Associated acts | Taskin Trio, Twickenham Choral Society |
| Website | www |
Christopher Herrick is an English organist.
Born in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, Herrick was a boy chorister at St Paul's Cathedral and attended its choir school; he sang at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and later that year went with the choir on a three-month tour of America which included a private concert in the White House and a meeting with President Dwight D. Eisenhower. At the age of 12, he was inspired to learn the organ after Sir John Dykes Bower, organist of St Paul's, asked him to accompany him to the cathedral organ loft to turn pages for him for a BBC recording. His response to Herrick's aspiration to become a concert organist was not encouraging: 'Well... I suppose it might be just possible to be an organist giving concerts, with no permanent church appointment – but even Thalben-Ball has a city church.' He later attended Cranleigh School, where he was able to continue his organ study.
From 1959 to 1962, Herrick held an organ scholarship at Exeter College, Oxford, where he studied music. Following this, he obtained a Boult scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music. His interests expanded to the harpsichord. 'The harpsichord had also fascinated me, and Millicent Silver became my professor [...] From a historical point of view, of course, everything about her approach was wrong. But the experience of working with her gave me a vivid taste of an unknown world.' He studied organ privately with Geraint Jones at the time he was discovering the German mechanical instruments with straight pedal boards. He studied conducting with Sir Adrian Boult.
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