People

Thomas Leech was appointed Musical Director of Bradford Festival

Choral Society in January of this year. He became Assistant

Director of Music at Ripon Cathedral

in September 2004 following three years as Organ Scholar at Norwich

Cathedral. He graduated from Downing College, Cambridge, in July

2001, after spending three years there as Organ Scholar. Whilst

reading for a music degree at the university he conducted Downing

College Chapel Choir and Darwin College Choir, also conducting a

number of major orchestral works. With Downing College Chapel Choir

he toured to Belgium, Holland, Hungary, Poland and the U.S.A. and

with Norwich Cathedral Choirs to Italy, Norway and Belgium. He has

also given concerts in France and Portugal. In Norwich he directed

the Viva Voce singers, developing their reputation as an exciting

and adventurous chamber choir in concerts that included the British

premiere of Sibelius 'Everyman' under the direction of Andrew

Parrott.

In addition to playing for the daily choral services at Ripon

Cathedral he has performed as a soloist in numerous English venues,

his playing has been broadcast on BBC1, Radio 3 and Classic FM and

recorded on critically acclaimed discs with Norwich Cathedral

Girls’ Choir on Lammas Records and Ripon Cathedral Choirs on Regent

Records and York Ambisonic. Festival engagements have included the

Cambridge Summer Festival, and Ripon International Festival with

trumpeter Alison Balsom.

He studied organ with David Sanger and in November 2002 studied in

Germany with Johannes Geffert and at Klais Orgelbau with the

inaugural Klais Organ Scholarship from the Eric Thompson Trust. He

has participated in masterclasses and academies with many of

today’s leading organists. Thomas is a Fellow of the Royal College

of Organists, winning the Durrant and Turpin prizes in the

Fellowship examinations.

Engagements in 2008 include solo recitals in Coventry and Ripon

Cathedrals, Westminster Abbey and the Temple Church, and he will be

recording his debut solo CD in June. His forthcoming recitals can

be viewed here .

Alan Horsey was born in the New Forest town of Fordingbridge and received his musical training at the Royal College of Music.

Following appointments at Leeds and St James, Muswell Hill, London he became organist at Bradford Cathedral in 1986. He held this position with distinction until 2002. In 1997 he became Conductor of Ilkley and Otley Choral Societies. He now pursues a freelance career as a continuo player appearing regularly with the Hallé, the Manchester Camerata and Kirklees Baroque. He is accompanist to Bradford Festival Choral Society.

Such spare time as Alan now has is devoted to pipe-organ restoration working with John R Clough and Son Ltd.