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MARTIN
NEARY
Martin
Neary began his career in church music as a chorister at the Chapel Royal,
St James’s Palace, and as such he sang at many state occasions,
including the 1953 Coronation. At
Cambridge, where he was Organ Scholar of Gonville and Caius College, he
began by reading Theology, but changed to Music, a move strongly
encouraged by the then Professor of Music, Patrick Hadley, and confirmed
after a convivial visit to Paddy
Hadley’s home at nearby Heacham!
He first came to prominence as a prize-winner at the
first St.
Alban’s International Organ Festival, and soon established a reputation
as one of
England
’s outstanding young organists, with numerous appearances in the Royal
Festival Hall recital series. Continuing his organ studies in
Paris
with André Marchal, he was also privileged to attend some of Olivier
Messiaen’s analysis classes at the Conservatoire.
From 1972 – 1998, when he was
successively Organist and Master of the Choristers at Winchester Cathedral
and Westminster Abbey, he conducted many innovative concerts and
introduced works by contemporary British composers to audiences at home
and abroad, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, and
the Kremlin in Moscow.
Martin Neary has been an outstanding champion of contemporary music,
both as conductor and organist, and his Festival Hall début included the
first performance there of Messiaen’s Chants
d’Oiseaux from the Livre
d’Orgue. He
has been particularly associated with the music of two English composers,
Jonathan Harvey and John Tavener, both of whom have written pieces for him
and his choirs. He has also
been active in the early music movement in
England
; in 1978 he conducted the first complete performance of Bach’s St
Matthew Passion with period instruments.
His numerous recordings include a CD for Sony Classical of Purcell’s
Music for Queen Mary with Westminster Abbey Choir, which was
nominated for a Grammy.
Since 1999 he has frequently worked in
Los Angeles
, where he was Music Director of the Paulist Choristers of California,
appearing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and Los Angeles
Master Chorale at the
Music
Center
and at the Hollywood Bowl. In
2007, he spent the spring semester as Artist-in-Residence at the
University
of
California
at
Davis
, and in April that year he directed the début in
Los Angeles
of his newly formed West Coast ensemble the Millennium Consort Singers.
Now based in
London
, Martin Neary continues to pursue his career as organist (in 2004 he was
the organ soloist at the First Night of the BBC Proms), guest conductor
and writer. He is increasingly active as a composer; his setting of May the Grace was sung at the Golden Wedding Service of the
Queen and Prince Philip, and in 2001 he was the featured composer at the
Tucson
,
Arizona
Church Music Festival. In 2004 he was commissioned to write a mass for All
Saints Fulham, in
London
.
Among Martin Neary’s awards
include an honorary doctorate of music from the
University
of
Southampton
and being appointed LVO in appreciation of his services at the Funeral of
Princess Diana.
Patron
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Vice-Presidents
The Countess of
Leicester
, The Marquess of Cholmondeley,
Lord Simon of Highbury, Lord Broers
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