Gillian Weir

Dame Gillian Constance Weir DBE (born January 17, 1941 in Martinborough , Wellington Region , New Zealand ) is a New Zealand organist and harpsichordist .

biography

After attending school, she studied organ and harpsichord at the Royal College of Music in Kensington (London) , where she won an international organ competition in 1964. The following year she made her debut as an organist at a concert at the Royal Festival Hall and was the soloist at the opening of the Night of the Proms in 1965.

In the following years she played with leading orchestras under the direction of Claudio Abbado , Raymond Leppard , Charles Mackerras and others and played at numerous music festivals and in many concert halls .

She also moderated her own television series on the BBC called The King of Instruments and was not only a regular author, commentator and juror at music competitions, but also a consultant for organ builders .

For her services to music, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996 and has held the title Dame ever since .

Dame Gillian Weir, who was also a guest musician on the organ of the Salt Lake Tabernacle in 2007, also gave private lessons to organists such as Georg Hagel , Malcolm Archer and Christian Schmitt . In December 2012 she gave her official farewell concert in Westminster Cathedral . She continues to give international master classes.

In 1964 she received the 1st prize for interpretation at the St Albans International Organ Festival .

swell

• Chambers Biographical Dictionary , p. 1582, Edinburgh 2002, ISBN 0-550-10051-2 .
• official homepage