Henry Fairs
Henry Fairs is Acting Head of Organ Studies at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Organist to the University of Birmingham and a solo concert artist. Since winning First Prize in the Odense International Organ Competition in 2007 he has performed in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland and the United States. His orchestral concerto début was with the Paris Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra in 2004 playing Jean Guillou’s 6th Concerto. His schedule for 2009 includes a Messiaen recital at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, a performance of Poulenc’s organ concerto with the Odense Symphony Orchestra in Denmark and a recital at Worms Cathedral, Germany, which opens the Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz.

Born in Hereford (England), he received his earliest musical training as a chorister at Leominster Priory. After graduating with First Class Honours from the Birmingham Conservatoire and gaining the Fellowship diploma of the Royal College of Organists with the Turpin and Durrant Prize, a bursary from the Countess of Munster Trust enabled study with Susan Landale at the Conservatoire Nationale de Région Rueil-Malmaison in France where in 1999 he won the Premier Prix d’Exellance à l’unanimité du jury. He then undertook further studies in Germany at the Hochschule für Musik, Köln and in England with David Sanger.

In recent years he has recorded Duruflé’s complete organ music for Naxos, performed the complete organ works of Messiaen’s in a series of six concerts for the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, and has been a guest tutor on courses for the Royal College of Organists, St Giles Organ School and Oundle for Organists’ course for prospective organ scholars in Oxford and Cambridge.

Fairs emerges as a top-notch performer. His registrations, tempos, and sensitivity to subtle nuances in phrasing and articulation are superb... I hope Fairs will record more for Naxos. This is an outstanding release.
American Record Guide

Website: www.henryfairs.com