Dear Friends,

St. Paul’s is fortunate to have an opportunity to hear one of the world’s truly great organists on Sunday, March 30, at 4 p.m. Organist James O’Donnell, Professor in the Practice of Organ at Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, will offer a recital program on both Hradetzky and Holtkamp organs in the St. Paul’s Nave. O’Donnell will play a stylistically diverse program including music by Georg Böhm, Buxtehude, Byrd, Dupré, Duruflé, Frescobaldi, and a rarely heard work by Danish composer Carl Nielsen, Commotio.

Before coming to Yale, Mr. O’Donnell was for 23 years Organist and Master of the Choristers at London’s famed Westminster Abbey. While there, he was responsible for all musical aspects of the Abbey’s work, training and conducting the Abbey Choir in its daily choral services, recordings, concerts, and broadcasts and at the great national occasions for which the Abbey is known, including directing the music for the September 2022 State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, which was broadcast live throughout the world to an estimated audience of over 4 billion people.

He has toured extensively with the Choir of Westminster Abbey to the United States, the Far East, Australia, and Europe. Prior to his appointment at Westminster Abbey, Mr. O’Donnell served for twelve years as Master of Music at Westminster (Roman Catholic) Cathedral where under his direction the renowned Cathedral Choir made many recordings and won the coveted Gramophone Record of the Year award, unprecedented for such a choir.

He is also internationally regarded as a conductor of both choirs and instrumental ensembles. He leads London’s period instrument orchestra St. James’ Baroque which is known as one of Britain’s leading musical groups.

I invite you to attend his recital here and for his performance to enrich and fill you with the gift of music for which we are all so very grateful. Mr. O’Donnell’s concert is sponsored by the Friends of Music at St. Paul’s.

-Kevin Jones, Director of Music