Organist

The music of American composer Gabriella Smith is indelibly linked to nature, marvelling at its beauty, terror and joy.

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Sibelius Symphony No. 5

The Bridgewater Hall

Experience Jonny Greenwood’s immersive work ‘605 Years of Reverb’ in this unique event, set in the stunning surroundings of Manchester Cathedral. Organists Anna Lapwood and James McVinnie team up to take on this immense piece, written by Jonny Greenwood to commemorate and celebrate the unique legacy of organs in historic buildings. Drawing upon influences from Indian music, the work gradually builds in texture and complexity, slowly introducing new musical ideas and striking new sound worlds. ‘Melodies in Indian music are often thought of as circular, rather than linear,’ says Greenwood, ‘You’re climbing on to a moving wheel, not starting and ending in silence.’ A truly unique experience – music will fill the space and light will move around Manchester Cathedral as the sun sets throughout the event, ending as darkness falls. Join for the full eight hour experience or for a timed slot, available every two hours.

The Hallé Presents… 605 Years of Reverb

Manchester Cathedral

Organists Anna Lapwood and James McVinnie team up to take on this immense piece, written by Jonny Greenwood to commemorate and celebrate the unique legacy of organs in historic buildings.

The Hallé Presents: 605 Years of Reverb

Alongside the symphonic pieces in the festival, this concert celebrates three classic Adams works for smaller ensembles. The Chamber Symphony, inspired by Schoenberg’s work of the same name, combines its rigour with the hyperactive energy and humour of classic 1950s cartoon music. Hallelujah Junction and John’s Book of Alleged Dances, both works from the 1990s, also share Adams’ ability to mix demanding performances with a sharp sense of wit.

Chamber Series: John Adams Chamber Symphony

Royal Northern College of Music

Composer and conductor Thomas Adès has long been a fan of Sibelius: ‘He’s obsessed with nature – you’ve always got this sense that he is on the edge of some vast wilderness.’ Adès drew inspiration from the Finnish composer’s incidental music for The Tempest when writing his own opera on the Shakespeare play. He conducts suites from both these storm-laden, supernatural works, along with The Swan of Tuonela, in which Sibelius summoned up his skill as a bard of Swedish folk tales. James McVinnie is the soloist in Gabriella Smith’s organ concerto Breathing Forests, a cavernous ‘sonic forest’ and howl of protest against natural destruction.

Adès Conducts the BBC SO

Royal Albert Hall

With his diverse career, James McVinnie comes to the Meyerson for an immaculate organ recital you won’t want to miss.

Organ Recital: James McVinnie

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

James McVinnie completes his residency in a recital with a difference: a rare chance to hear Bach played on both the piano and the organ by the same performer.

James McVinnie: Bach for Organ & Piano

Southbank Centre

Continuing his residency, James McVinnie offers a programme that celebrates music of flair and fantasy on the Royal Festival Hall’s historic organ.

James McVinnie: Fantasias

Sensual and rhapsodic, Debussy’s prelude uses the solo flute to evoke the moody, dream-like atmosphere of a faun who awakens from a nap in the forest on a sunlit afternoon. In contrast with the more pastoral mood of this concert’s opening works, City Noir was inspired by the peculiar ambience and mood of Los Angeles ‘noir’ films, especially those produced in the late forties and early fifties.

City Noir

Severance Music Center

Rising young composer Gabriella Smith conjure the spaces and sounds of California, responding to landscapes both urban and rural, geographical and metaphysical. Igor Stravinsky depicts a festive, folk-inflected Slavic wedding in his ballet Les Noces, augmented by Steven Stucky’s orchestration and artist Hillary Leben's vivid new animated shorts. Stravinsky’s Octet for Winds and Brass, a uniquely scored neoclassical work, was inspired by a late-night dream.

California Festival: From the Edge

Davies Symphony Hall

In a concert produced in collaboration with the Ojai Music Festival, Vimbayi Kaziboni leads new music by California composers.

California Festival

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Green Umbrella

From Westminster Abbey to Walt Disney Concert Hall, the versatile British organist and popular collaborator returns to LA Phil for an ambitious and captivating program.

James McVinnie

California Festival: James McVinnie

The LA Phil’s Conductor Laureate—now Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony—exults in a program that includes his tribute to Frank Gehry, a major premiere by the exceedingly creative Gabriella Smith, and Strauss’ whirlwind of a symphonic poem that begins with an awesome fanfare to end all fanfares, well known for its use in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Strauss, Smith, and Salonen

Boundary-pushing organist James McVinnie plays Tristan Perich’s Infinity Gradient, for organ and 100 speakers in 1-bit audio. You won’t just hear this music, you’ll feel it with your whole body.

Tristan Perich & James McVinnie: Infinity Gradient

St Giles Cripplegate

Organist James McVinnie explores the convergence of vintage technology and acoustic resonance. In his hands, the pipe organ—classical music’s original synthesizer—meets electronics both analog and digital. Composer Sara Davachi joins on synth to call the immersive drones of her new work into the world, while Claire M Singer takes to the organ to roll out luminous tones. Plus performances of Tristan Perich’s complex sonic tapestries, Laurie Spiegel’s algorithmic meditations, and Squarepusher’s breakbeat maximalism. This is the sound of circuits breathing.

Organist

James McVinnie

Events

Upcoming events

6 - 7 Nov, 2026

Tristan Perich & James McVinnie: Infinity Gradient · Barbican Centre

Apr 27, 2027

James McVinnie’s Power Switch · Los Angeles Philharmonic

Past events

Sep 19, 2026

Sibelius Symphony No. 5 · BBC Philharmonic

Feb 28, 2026

The Hallé Presents… 605 Years of Reverb · The Bridgewater Hall

Future and recently performed repertoire

Organ in Breathing Forests by Smith

BBC Philharmonic

Organ in Years of Reverb by Greenwood

The Hallé

Organ in 605 Years of Reverb by Greenwood

The Bridgewater Hall

Organ in Infinity Gradient by Perich

Barbican Centre

Organ in The Unquestioned Answer by Spiegel

Los Angeles Philharmonic

About

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