Simon Lindley
Encyclopedia
Simon Lindley is a British organist
, choirmaster, conductor and composer. He has been organist at Leeds Town Hall
since 1976 and Master of the Music and organist of Leeds Parish Church
since 1975. Senior Lecturer in Music at Leeds Polytechnic
from 1976 to 1987, Lindley held the post of Senior Assistant Music Officer for Leeds City Council
from 1987 to 2011. He was president of the Royal College of Organists
from 2000 to 2003, and of the Incorporated Association of Organists from 2003 to 2005. He has been secretary of the Church Music Society since 1991. He served on the editorial panel for New English Praise (2006), a supplement to the New English Hymnal
and was, with Michael Fleming, responsible for much of the musical compilation of the supplement. He has been chairman of the Ecclesiastical Music Trust from 2004 - the trustees all being directors of the English Hymnal
Company - and Chairman of the Yorkshire College of Music and Drama from 2006. Lindley was in 2008 elected as President of the Campaign for the Traditional Cathedral Choir in succession to Dr John Sanders
. In 2009, Lindley was elected a trustee of the Halifax 900 Trust at Halifax Minster and appointed chairman of the Cavaillé-Coll Steering Group at Sheffield Cathedral
.
Lindley is a much recorded as organ soloist or orchestral organist with orchestras and the Huddersfield Choral Society
, and as accompanist to cornet
virtuoso Phillip McCann, trumpeter Murray Grieg and violinists David Greed and Marat Bisengaliev
.
, Kent
on the outskirts of south London, England, on 10 October 1948, Lindley was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford
and at the Royal College of Music
where he studied organ
, piano and voice. His father, The Reverend Geoffrey Lindley, a Yorkshireman (20 September 1922 – 18 November 2010) was an Anglican priest, and his widow, Jeanne, an author, is the daughter of Belgian scholar and historian Professor Emile Cammaerts
. A vice-president of the Royal College of Organists, Lindley comes from a musical family - his great grandmother, Marie Brema
, was mezzo soloist in the first performance of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius
at the 1900 Birmingham
Festival and his sister, Ruth, a graduate
of the University of Warwick
who trained as a musician at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
in the City of London
was for many years a member of the professional choir
of the London Oratory
.
After a 1969 début
recital
at Westminster Cathedral
where he acted for some time as a deputy organist during the tenure of Colin Mawby
as Master of the Cathedral Music, Lindley's early work included a 1975 broadcast of the Elgar Organ Sonata in G, Op 28 at the Proms. This launched a recording career that has included several CDs for Naxos Records
and Chandos Records
, including French Organ Music from Leeds Parish Church, Handel
Concertos with Northern Sinfonia and the Khachaturian Organ Symphony, with the BBC Philharmonic
conducted by Fedor Gluschenko, recorded live at a concert in Leeds Town Hall. Also recorded at Leeds Town Hall are acclaimed performances with the Orchestra of Opera North
including Vaughan Williams - Job: A Masque for Dancing, Walton
- Belshazzar's Feast
and the Coronation Marches Crown Imperial and Orb and Sceptre
, and - more recently Bartók - Duke Bluebeard's Castle conducted by Opera North
Music Director, Richard Farnes
. Other Chandos Records releases include Christmas Music by Huddersfield Choral Society and Brian Kay
, and several recordings in the series The World's Most Beautiful Melodies with cornet virtuoso
Phillip McCann.
After experience in a number of London churches including Holy Trinity Sloane Street
and St Cuthbert's Philbeach Gardens - Lindley came to prominence in the City of London through his work at St Olave Hart Street
- the Church of diarist Samuel Pepys
and St Anne and St Agnes Gresham Street and as Organ Tutor at the Royal School of Church Music's (RSCM) College of St Nicolas. During and since his student years he worked at Westminster Cathedral where he was accompanied on two gramophone recordings by the cathedral choir. After leaving London he was from 1970 to 1975, at St Albans Cathedral
as assistant master of the music for St Albans Cathedral Choir
, where he was Peter Hurford
's assistant and Director of Music at St Albans School
from 1971 to 1975. The boys' choir that he developed at the school became a regular feature of the London musical scene and flourishes today as does the annual musical collaboration between St Albans School and St Albans High School for Girls
.
Lindley retains connections with the ecclesiastical and musical life of the City of London where his career began over forty years ago. He is a churchwarden
of the National Musicians' Church St Sepulchre-without-Newgate
and chairman of the Friends of the Musicians' Chapel. Lindley is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman
of the Worshipful Company of Musicians
.
In 1975 he moved to Yorkshire to take up the position of Director of the Parish Church Choir, becoming Leeds City Organist a year later. In 1976, he began work as senior lecturer in Music at Leeds Polytechnic, a position he held until 1987 when he was appointed to the post of Senior Assistant Music Officer for Leeds City Council - Lindley retired from this post on 31 March 2011. Although the Church of England
has questioned the compatibility of freemasonry
and Christianity
in a report published in 1987, Lindley served as Organist to Zetland Lodge of Freemasons from 1999 to 2005, No 1311 on the Register of the United Grand Lodge of England. He is Lodge Almoner and during 2007 and 2008 served as Master of the Lodge. After his term as Immediate Past Master, he returned to the role of Organist in November 2009. Lindley was in Spring 2011 invested for a second year's tenure both as Grand Organist to the United Grand Lodge of England
and as Provincial Grand Organist to the Masonic Province of Yorkshire, West Riding from April and May 2011 respectively. In March 2010 Lindley was exalted into the St Laurence Chapter No 2330 as a Companion in the Holy Royal Arch
. In 2006, he received the Spirit of Leeds Award from Leeds Civic Trust and in February 2009 was elected an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Leeds.
During the 1970s and 80s he was Chorus Master to The Halifax Choral Society
and the Leeds Philharmonic Society
, and is a life vice-president of both choirs. His work as a senior Special Commissioner of the Royal School of Church Music - work undertaken for over 35 years - has included directing courses on four continents and membership of its Advisory Board.
During 2009, Lindley undertook two overseas visits on behalf of the Royal School of Church Music
as Choral Course Director in Cape Town
, at the South African National Summer School, and North Carolina
at the Carolina Course for Girl Choristers and Adult Singers. During Easter Week he gave recitals and lectures in Russia
at Kirov
and Moscow
at the Gnessins Academy. In Spring 2010, Lindley directed the Swiss Archdeaconry Choirs' Festival Weekend at Christ Church, Lausanne
and Lausanne Cathedral
.
Lindley remains (2011) organist at Leeds Town Hall and Leeds Parish Church (the longest-serving musician in almost 300 years of continual musical endeavour there). At the church, where his duties include direction of the Choir of Leeds Parish Church
, he is Music Director of Saint Peter's Singers of Leeds
, a chamber choir founded by Harry Fearnley in 1977. He is Music Director of Overgate Hospice Choir
Halifax
and Leeds College of Music
Community Choral Society. He took up the posts of Conductor of Sheffield Bach Society in autumn 2009 and in November 2010 was appointed Conductor to Doncaster Choral Society.
In the academic field, Lindley is a visiting tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music
and an external examiner to the music departments of a number of universities in the North of England and to the Royal Academy of Music
. He has been a member of the Examining Panel of the Royal College of Organists since 1977 and has served as chairman of all the practical examining panels in turn and of the Paperwork Examiners for the College's coveted Choirmaster's Diploma
now re-styled the Dip ChD.
Lindley lives in the Moravian
Settlement at Fulneck south of Pudsey
. He gives monthly recitals at Fulneck Moravian Church
and directs an annual Fulneck Baroque weekend, featuring the music of Bach and Handel with the Saint Peter's Singers of Leeds and St Peter's Chamber Orchestra. The 2012 weekend featured sacred music by Haydn - the Nelson Mass and motets by Mozart including the Ave verum corpus
and Splendente Te, Deus. In summer 2011 the Mass in B minor of J S Bach was performed on Bank Holiday
Monday.
He has four children and two grandchildren.
arrangements, most notably "Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain" (Banks Music Publications). He has alleged to have produced more Easter
carol arrangements than any other living British composer. These include "Now the green blade riseth", "On Easter morn, ere break of day", "Jacob's Ladder" (all published by Banks Music Publications), "The Bell Man's Song" (published by Encore Publications), "Cedit hiems enimus" (from Piae Cantiones
, 1582) and "Mary, weep not, weep no longer" (Collaudemus).
He has produced several anthems including "Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house" (Royal School of Church Music) and a widely sung "Ave Maria
" available in two versions, the original for upper voices (Banks Music Publications - this appeared originally under the imprint of Basil Ramsey, Publisher of Music - and an SATB setting (Royal School of Church Music). The "Ave Maria" has been recorded and broadcast by numerous choirs, including a performance by soprano Katherine Jenkins
on her album Sacred Arias
.
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
, choirmaster, conductor and composer. He has been organist at Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall was built between 1853 and 1858 on Park Lane , Leeds, West Yorkshire, England to a design by architect Cuthbert Brodrick.-Background:...
since 1976 and Master of the Music and organist of Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church, or the Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire is a large Church of England parish church of major architectural and liturgical significance. It has been designated a grade I listed building by English Heritage...
since 1975. Senior Lecturer in Music at Leeds Polytechnic
Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds Metropolitan University is a British University with three campuses. Two are situated in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England while the third is situated in Bhopal, India...
from 1976 to 1987, Lindley held the post of Senior Assistant Music Officer for Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council is the local authority for the City of Leeds metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England.-History:The city council was established in 1974, with the first elections being held in advance in 1973...
from 1987 to 2011. He was president of the Royal College of Organists
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...
from 2000 to 2003, and of the Incorporated Association of Organists from 2003 to 2005. He has been secretary of the Church Music Society since 1991. He served on the editorial panel for New English Praise (2006), a supplement to the New English Hymnal
New English Hymnal
The New English Hymnal is a hymn book and liturgical source, aimed towards the Church of England, first published in 1986. It was published by the Canterbury Press . The copyright is held by The English Hymnal Company Limited. It is a successor to, and published in the same style as, the 1906...
and was, with Michael Fleming, responsible for much of the musical compilation of the supplement. He has been chairman of the Ecclesiastical Music Trust from 2004 - the trustees all being directors of the English Hymnal
English Hymnal
The English Hymnal was published in 1906 for the Church of England under the editorship of Percy Dearmer and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The preface to the hymnal began with the statement, "A collection of the best hymns in the English language." Much of the contents was used for the first time at St...
Company - and Chairman of the Yorkshire College of Music and Drama from 2006. Lindley was in 2008 elected as President of the Campaign for the Traditional Cathedral Choir in succession to Dr John Sanders
John Sanders (musician)
John Derek Sanders OBE, MA , D.Mus , FRCO, ARCM, HonRSCM, was an English organist, conductor, choir trainer and composer...
. In 2009, Lindley was elected a trustee of the Halifax 900 Trust at Halifax Minster and appointed chairman of the Cavaillé-Coll Steering Group at Sheffield Cathedral
Sheffield Cathedral
Sheffield Cathedral is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when the diocese was created in 1914...
.
Lindley is a much recorded as organ soloist or orchestral organist with orchestras and the Huddersfield Choral Society
Huddersfield Choral Society
Huddersfield Choral Society is an internationally famous choir based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1836, and is recognised as one of Britain's leading choirs...
, and as accompanist to cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
virtuoso Phillip McCann, trumpeter Murray Grieg and violinists David Greed and Marat Bisengaliev
Marat Bisengaliev
Marat Bisengaliev is a Kazakh violinist and director of both the West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra and TuranAlem Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra...
.
Biography
Born in BarnehurstBarnehurst
Barnehurst is a town and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bexley, England. It is a suburban development in Southeast London located 12.5 miles east south-east of Charing Cross.-History:...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
on the outskirts of south London, England, on 10 October 1948, Lindley was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford
Magdalen College School, Oxford
Magdalen College School is an independent school for boys aged 7 to 18 and girls in the sixth form, located on The Plain in Oxford, England. It was founded as part of Magdalen College, Oxford by William Waynflete in 1480....
and at 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...
where he studied organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
, piano and voice. His father, The Reverend Geoffrey Lindley, a Yorkshireman (20 September 1922 – 18 November 2010) was an Anglican priest, and his widow, Jeanne, an author, is the daughter of Belgian scholar and historian Professor Emile Cammaerts
Émile Cammaerts
Émile Leon Cammaerts was a Belgian poet.He became Professor of Belgian Studies at the University of London in 1933, and his papers are held there in Senate House Library....
. A vice-president of the Royal College of Organists, Lindley comes from a musical family - his great grandmother, Marie Brema
Marie Brema
Marie Brema was an English dramatic mezzo-soprano singer in concert, operatic and oratorio work in the last decade of the 19th and the first decade of the 20th centuries...
, was mezzo soloist in the first performance of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory...
at the 1900 Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
Festival and his sister, Ruth, a graduate
Graduate
Graduate refers to someone who has been the subject of a Graduation. See also: Alumnus.It may also refer to:* Graduate or University Graduate or College graduate someone who has been awarded a degree by a university or college....
of the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
who trained as a musician at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
was for many years a member of the professional choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
of the London Oratory
London Oratory
The London Oratory is a Catholic oratory, a community of lay-brothers, and the name given to the London Congregation of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri...
.
After a 1969 début
Debut
-Media:* Debut , a 1993 album by Björk* Debut E.P., a 2000 release by Korean pop rock band Bulldog Mansion* The Debut, a 2001 independent feature-length film directed by Gene Cajayon...
recital
Recital
A recital is a musical performance. It can highlight a single performer, sometimes accompanied by piano, or a performance of the works of a single composer.The invention of the solo piano recital has been attributed to Franz Liszt....
at Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster...
where he acted for some time as a deputy organist during the tenure of Colin Mawby
Colin Mawby
Colin Mawby is an English organist, choral conductor and composer.-Career:Mawby received his earliest musical education at Westminster Cathedral choir school, where he acted as assistant to George Malcolm at the organ from the age of 12. The boys performed 14 or 15 services a week and had 10 hours...
as Master of the Cathedral Music, Lindley's early work included a 1975 broadcast of the Elgar Organ Sonata in G, Op 28 at the Proms. This launched a recording career that has included several CDs for Naxos Records
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
and Chandos Records
Chandos Records
Chandos Records is an independent classical music recording company based in Colchester, Essex, in the United Kingdom, founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.- Background :...
, including French Organ Music from Leeds Parish Church, Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
Concertos with Northern Sinfonia and the Khachaturian Organ Symphony, with the BBC Philharmonic
BBC Philharmonic
The BBC Philharmonic is a British broadcasting symphony orchestra based at Media City UK, Salford, England. It is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The orchestra's primary concert venue is the Bridgewater Hall....
conducted by Fedor Gluschenko, recorded live at a concert in Leeds Town Hall. Also recorded at Leeds Town Hall are acclaimed performances with the Orchestra of Opera North
Orchestra of Opera North
The Orchestra of Opera North is the orchestra that plays for the English opera company, Opera North....
including Vaughan Williams - Job: A Masque for Dancing, Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
- Belshazzar's Feast
Belshazzar's Feast (Walton)
Belshazzar's Feast is an oratorio by the English composer William Walton. It was first performed at the Leeds Festival on 8 October 1931. The work has remained one of Walton's most celebrated compositions and one of the most popular works in the English choral repertoire...
and the Coronation Marches Crown Imperial and Orb and Sceptre
Orb and Sceptre
Orb and Sceptre is a march composed for orchestra by composer William Walton. It was written for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953.-Structure:...
, and - more recently Bartók - Duke Bluebeard's Castle conducted by Opera North
Opera North
Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
Music Director, Richard Farnes
Richard Farnes
Richard Farnes is a British conductor, and is currently Music Director of Opera North.- Education :Farnes was a chorister at King's College, Cambridge before entering Eton College as a music scholar in 1977...
. Other Chandos Records releases include Christmas Music by Huddersfield Choral Society and Brian Kay
Brian Kay
Brian Kay is an English radio presenter, conductor and singer. He is well known as the bass in the King's Singers during the group's formative years from 1968 until 1982, and as such is to be heard on many of their 1970s LP recordings...
, and several recordings in the series The World's Most Beautiful Melodies with cornet virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
Phillip McCann.
After experience in a number of London churches including Holy Trinity Sloane Street
Holy Trinity Sloane Street
Holy Trinity Sloane Street is a London Anglican parish church, built 1888-90 at the south-eastern side of Sloane Street to a striking Arts & Crafts design by the architect John Dando Sedding at the cost of the 5th Earl Cadogan, in whose London estate it lay...
and St Cuthbert's Philbeach Gardens - Lindley came to prominence in the City of London through his work at St Olave Hart Street
St Olave Hart Street
St Olave Hart Street is a Church of England church in the City of London, located on the corner of Hart Street and Seething Lane near Fenchurch Street railway station....
- the Church of diarist Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
and St Anne and St Agnes Gresham Street and as Organ Tutor at the Royal School of Church Music's (RSCM) College of St Nicolas. During and since his student years he worked at Westminster Cathedral where he was accompanied on two gramophone recordings by the cathedral choir. After leaving London he was from 1970 to 1975, at St Albans Cathedral
St Albans Cathedral
St Albans Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral church at St Albans, England. At , its nave is the longest of any cathedral in England...
as assistant master of the music for St Albans Cathedral Choir
St Albans Cathedral Choir
St. Albans Cathedral Choir is an English Cathedral Choir based in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It is made up of around 25 boy choristers aged 7–14 and 12 adult Lay Clerks...
, where he was Peter Hurford
Peter Hurford
Peter Hurford OBE is a British organist, born St Cecilia's day 1930 in Minehead, Somerset.Educated at Blundell's School, he later studied both music and law at Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating with dual degrees, subsequently obtaining an enviable reputation for both musical scholarship and...
's assistant and Director of Music at St Albans School
St Albans School (Hertfordshire)
St Albans School is an independent school in the city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, in the East of England. Entry before Sixth Form is for boys only, and co-educational thereafter. Founded in 948 by Wulsin , St Albans School is not only the oldest school in Hertfordshire but also one of the oldest...
from 1971 to 1975. The boys' choir that he developed at the school became a regular feature of the London musical scene and flourishes today as does the annual musical collaboration between St Albans School and St Albans High School for Girls
St Albans High School for Girls
St Albans High School is a private Church of England girls' day school founded in 1889 for girls aged 4 to 18, located in the city of St Albans, Hertfordshire with a primary school in the nearby village of Wheathampstead. It provides girls with good quality educational provision in all sections of...
.
Lindley retains connections with the ecclesiastical and musical life of the City of London where his career began over forty years ago. He is a churchwarden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
of the National Musicians' Church St Sepulchre-without-Newgate
St Sepulchre-without-Newgate
St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, also known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , is an Anglican church in the City of London. It is located on Holborn Viaduct, almost opposite the Old Bailey...
and chairman of the Friends of the Musicians' Chapel. Lindley is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman
Liveryman
For Livery Companies in the City of London, a Liveryman is a full member of their respective Company.Livery Company members fall into two basic categories: Freemen and Liverymen. One may join as a Freeman, and thereby acquire the "Freedom of the Company", upon fulfilling the Company's criteria...
of the Worshipful Company of Musicians
Worshipful Company of Musicians
The Worshipful Company of Musicians is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. Its history dates back to at least 1350. Originally a specialist guild for musicians, its role became an anachronism in the 18th century, when the centre of music making in London moved from the City to the...
.
In 1975 he moved to Yorkshire to take up the position of Director of the Parish Church Choir, becoming Leeds City Organist a year later. In 1976, he began work as senior lecturer in Music at Leeds Polytechnic, a position he held until 1987 when he was appointed to the post of Senior Assistant Music Officer for Leeds City Council - Lindley retired from this post on 31 March 2011. Although the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
has questioned the compatibility of freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
in a report published in 1987, Lindley served as Organist to Zetland Lodge of Freemasons from 1999 to 2005, No 1311 on the Register of the United Grand Lodge of England. He is Lodge Almoner and during 2007 and 2008 served as Master of the Lodge. After his term as Immediate Past Master, he returned to the role of Organist in November 2009. Lindley was in Spring 2011 invested for a second year's tenure both as Grand Organist to the United Grand Lodge of England
United Grand Lodge of England
The United Grand Lodge of England is the main governing body of freemasonry within England and Wales and in other, predominantly ex-British Empire and Commonwealth countries outside the United Kingdom. It is the oldest Grand Lodge in the world, deriving its origin from 1717...
and as Provincial Grand Organist to the Masonic Province of Yorkshire, West Riding from April and May 2011 respectively. In March 2010 Lindley was exalted into the St Laurence Chapter No 2330 as a Companion in the Holy Royal Arch
Holy Royal Arch
The Holy Royal Arch is a degree of Freemasonry. It is present in all main masonic systems, though in some it is part of 'mainstream' Freemasonry, and in others it is an 'additional' degree....
. In 2006, he received the Spirit of Leeds Award from Leeds Civic Trust and in February 2009 was elected an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Leeds.
During the 1970s and 80s he was Chorus Master to The Halifax Choral Society
The Halifax Choral Society
Halifax Choral Society is an internationally-famous choir based in the town of Halifax in the English county of West Yorkshire. It is notable for being the oldest amateur choral society in Britain , founded in 1817 with an unbroken record of performance.The idea for the Halifax Choral Society was...
and the Leeds Philharmonic Society
Leeds Philharmonic Society
Leeds Philharmonic Chorus is a leading choir in Europe, regularly performing to professional standards with internationally renowned soloists, orchestras and conductors....
, and is a life vice-president of both choirs. His work as a senior Special Commissioner of the Royal School of Church Music - work undertaken for over 35 years - has included directing courses on four continents and membership of its Advisory Board.
During 2009, Lindley undertook two overseas visits on behalf of the Royal School of Church Music
Royal School of Church Music
The largest church music organisation in Britain, the Royal School of Church Music was founded in 1927 by Sir Sydney Nicholson and has 11,000 members worldwide; it was originally named the School of English Church Music. It seeks to enable church music in the present and invest in its future,...
as Choral Course Director in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, at the South African National Summer School, and North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
at the Carolina Course for Girl Choristers and Adult Singers. During Easter Week he gave recitals and lectures in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
at Kirov
Kirov, Kirov Oblast
Kirov , formerly known as Vyatka and Khlynov, is a city in northeastern European Russia, on the Vyatka River, and the administrative center of Kirov Oblast. Population: -History:...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
at the Gnessins Academy. In Spring 2010, Lindley directed the Swiss Archdeaconry Choirs' Festival Weekend at Christ Church, Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
and Lausanne Cathedral
Lausanne Cathedral
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Lausanne was built between 1170 and 1240 in the gothic style, with the western portal completed later in the flamboyant style....
.
Lindley remains (2011) organist at Leeds Town Hall and Leeds Parish Church (the longest-serving musician in almost 300 years of continual musical endeavour there). At the church, where his duties include direction of the Choir of Leeds Parish Church
Choir of Leeds Parish Church
The Choir of Leeds Parish Church was founded by Vicar Richard Fawcett probably as early as 1815, and was certainly in existence by 1818 . The Choir of Leeds Parish Church - Boys and Men - was, from its origins, a charge on the Church Rate; and, in what was then a largely Non-conformist town, a...
, he is Music Director of Saint Peter's Singers of Leeds
Saint Peter's Singers of Leeds
Saint Peter's Singers is a chamber choir associated with Leeds Parish Church, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.-Background:Saint Peter's Singers is a choir of approximately forty mixed voices...
, a chamber choir founded by Harry Fearnley in 1977. He is Music Director of Overgate Hospice Choir
Overgate Hospice Choir
The Overgate Hospice Choir is based in Halifax, West Yorkshire and, through performances, raises money for Overgate Hospice in Elland, West Yorkshire. It is notable because, as far as is known, Overgate was the first Hospice to have its own Choir, formed specifically for the purpose of raising...
Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
and Leeds College of Music
Leeds College of Music
Leeds College of Music, located in Leeds’ Quarry Hill cultural quarter, is the largest music college in the United Kingdom, with over 1,000 full-time and 1,000 part-time students. The college is best known for its leading role in jazz education and started one of the first jazz degrees in Europe...
Community Choral Society. He took up the posts of Conductor of Sheffield Bach Society in autumn 2009 and in November 2010 was appointed Conductor to Doncaster Choral Society.
In the academic field, Lindley is a visiting tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music
Royal Northern College of Music
The Royal Northern College of Music is a music school in Manchester, England. It is located on Oxford Road in Chorlton on Medlock, at the western edge of the campus of the University of Manchester and is one of four conservatories associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music...
and an external examiner to the music departments of a number of universities in the North of England and to the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
. He has been a member of the Examining Panel of the Royal College of Organists since 1977 and has served as chairman of all the practical examining panels in turn and of the Paperwork Examiners for the College's coveted Choirmaster's Diploma
Diploma
A diploma is a certificate or deed issued by an educational institution, such as a university, that testifies that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study or confers an academic degree. In countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the word diploma refers to...
now re-styled the Dip ChD.
Lindley lives in the Moravian
Moravian
Moravian refers to:* a person or thing from Moravia * Moravians * Moravian language, disputed language or dialect of the Czech language* a member or adherent of the Moravian Church...
Settlement at Fulneck south of Pudsey
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in West Yorkshire, England. Once an independent town, it was incorporated into the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds in 1974, and is located midway between Bradford and Leeds city centres. It has a population of 32,391....
. He gives monthly recitals at Fulneck Moravian Church
Fulneck Moravian Church
Fulneck Moravian Church and its associated settlement were established on the Fulneck estate, Pudsey, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, in 1744 by Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, a Moravian Bishop and Lutheran priest, following a donation of land by the evangelical Anglican clergyman,...
and directs an annual Fulneck Baroque weekend, featuring the music of Bach and Handel with the Saint Peter's Singers of Leeds and St Peter's Chamber Orchestra. The 2012 weekend featured sacred music by Haydn - the Nelson Mass and motets by Mozart including the Ave verum corpus
Ave verum Corpus
Ave verum corpus is a short Eucharistic hymn that has been set to music by various composers. It dates from the 14th century and has been attributed to Popes Innocent III, Innocent IV and Innocent VI....
and Splendente Te, Deus. In summer 2011 the Mass in B minor of J S Bach was performed on Bank Holiday
Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...
Monday.
He has four children and two grandchildren.
Compositions
Lindley's published compositions include a number of carolCarol (music)
A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship, and often with a dance-like or popular character....
arrangements, most notably "Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain" (Banks Music Publications). He has alleged to have produced more Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
carol arrangements than any other living British composer. These include "Now the green blade riseth", "On Easter morn, ere break of day", "Jacob's Ladder" (all published by Banks Music Publications), "The Bell Man's Song" (published by Encore Publications), "Cedit hiems enimus" (from Piae Cantiones
Piae Cantiones
Piae Cantiones ecclesiasticae et scholasticae veterum episcoporum is a collection of late medieval Latin songs first published in 1582. It was compiled by Jacobus Finno or Jaakko Suomalainen , a clergyman who was headmaster of the cathedral school at Turku...
, 1582) and "Mary, weep not, weep no longer" (Collaudemus).
He has produced several anthems including "Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house" (Royal School of Church Music) and a widely sung "Ave Maria
Ave Maria
Ave Maria may refer to:*Ave Maria , the "Hail Mary", a traditional Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox prayer calling for the intercession of Mary, the mother of Jesus-Music:...
" available in two versions, the original for upper voices (Banks Music Publications - this appeared originally under the imprint of Basil Ramsey, Publisher of Music - and an SATB setting (Royal School of Church Music). The "Ave Maria" has been recorded and broadcast by numerous choirs, including a performance by soprano Katherine Jenkins
Katherine Jenkins
Katherine Jenkins is a Welsh mezzo-soprano. She is a classical-popular crossover singer who performs across a spectrum of operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre and hymns.-Early life and education:...
on her album Sacred Arias
Sacred Arias (Katherine Jenkins album)
Sacred Arias is the sixth album by Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins, released on 20 October 2008 in the UK. It is her final album with the Universal Music label.A Deluxe Edition containing a second disc was also released...
.
Honorary, voluntary and other positions
- Chairman of the Friends of the Musicians' Chapel at the church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in the City of London (2003-); Churchwarden of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate (2007-)
- Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Music Trust, founded by Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
and other directors of the English Hymnal as the charitable arm of the English Hymnal Company Limited (2004-) (Trustee from 1998) - Chairman of the Trustees, Yorkshire College of Music and Drama (2006-)
- President of the Campaign for the Traditional Cathedral Choir (2008-)
- Chairman, Cavaillé-Coll Steering Group, Sheffield Cathedral (2009-)
- Trustee, Halifax 900 Trust at Halifax Minster (2009-)
- Founder-trustee of the Sir George Thalben-BallGeorge Thalben-BallSir George Thomas Thalben-Ball CBE was an organist and composer who, though originally from Australia, spent most of his life in Britain....
Memorial Trust - Trustee of the John Pilling Trust (1999-)- now (2010) the senior serving member of the Trustee body
- Member of the Royal Society of MusiciansRoyal Society of MusiciansThe Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain is a charity in the United Kingdom that supports musicians. It is the oldest music-related charity in Great Britain, founded in 1738 as the "Fund for Decay'd Musicians" by a declaration of trust signed by 228 musicians, including Edward Purcell ,...
- Director of The English Hymnal Company Limited (1995-)
- Music Compiler - joint with Michael Fleming - of New English Praise, a supplement to The New English Hymnal (2006)
- President of the Royal College of Organists (2000–2003); Vice-President (2003-)
- President of the Incorporated Association of Organists (2003–2005)
- Secretary of the Church Music Society (1991-)
- Trustee of the Friends of the Music of Leeds Parish Church (1996-)
- Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians (2006-)
Academic awards, honours and distinctions
- Fellow of Trinity College of MusicTrinity College of MusicTrinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
(FTCL) (1973) - Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music (LRAM) (1968)
- Associate of the Royal College of Music (ARCM) (1968)
- Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, Choirmaster's Diploma (FRCO (CHM))
- Graduate of the Royal Schools of Music (London) (1970)
- Honorary doctorate, Leeds Metropolitan University (2001)
- Honorary Fellowship, Leeds College of Music (2000)
- Honorary Fellowship, Guild of Church Musicians (2000)
- Honorary Fellowship, Guild of Musicians and Singers
- Freedom of the City of London
- The RSCM has granted Lindley two honorary awards:
- Associate of the Royal School of Church Music (ARSCM) (1987)
- Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music (FRSCM) (2002)
External links
- Official website
- [ Simon Lindley at Allmusic.com]
- Leeds Parish Church
- St Peter's Singers
- Leeds Town Hall
- Sheffield Bach Choir
- Doncaster Choral Society