Lee Ward
Encyclopedia
Royal College of Organists
The Royal College of Organists or RCO, is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, but with members around the world...
is a British organist, conductor and teacher.
He first studied the organ with Ian Tracey
Ian Tracey
Ian Tracey is a Canadian Leo- and Gemini Award-winning actor. Over the years, Tracey has participated in over seventy films and television series. Tracey has starred in series like Da Vinci's Inquest and Intelligence, both CBC television series produced by long-time colleague Chris Haddock...
at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and was appointed Assistant Organist at Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of Chester, and is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly St Werburgh's abbey church of a Benedictine monastery, is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
at eighteen years of age.
In 1989, he won a Foundation Scholarship and the RCO's R.J.Pitcher Scholarship to the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
. He won all of the available organ prizes during his time there as well as additional scholarships to the Temple Church
Temple Church
The Temple Church is a late-12th-century church in London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built for and by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. In modern times, two Inns of Court both use the church. It is famous for its effigy tombs and for being a round church...
, St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Alban's Abbey.
Upon graduating with a BMus, he became Assistant Organist as St. Michael's Cornhill and then Organist and Assistant Director of Music at King's College School, Wimbledon. In 1994 he was appointed organist and Director of Music at St. John-at-Hampstead and in 1996 he moved to teach at the London Oratory School
London Oratory School
The London Oratory School is a Catholic secondary comprehensive school in Fulham, London. The Headmaster is David McFadden. It has around 1,365 pupils. It is not to be confused with The Oratory School, a Catholic boarding school...
.
Currently, Lee is Director of Music at the London Oratory School
London Oratory School
The London Oratory School is a Catholic secondary comprehensive school in Fulham, London. The Headmaster is David McFadden. It has around 1,365 pupils. It is not to be confused with The Oratory School, a Catholic boarding school...
as well as Director of the London Oratory School Schola
London Oratory School Schola
The London Oratory School Schola was established in 1996 and is a choir for Catholic boys. The current director of the Schola is Lee Ward. The choir's patrons are Princess Michael of Kent, the barrister Cherie Booth, the actor Simon Callow and the composer James MacMillan .-Directors of the...
(a post he took up in 2006).
He still performs as an organist around the UK and he is also the Director of the Colla Voce Singers, a London based choir composed mostly of old Oratorians.