WelCom March 2024
Chris Hainsworth, Principal Organist of Beziers Cathedral, France marks his return to Wellington this month to give a special organ concert with ‘a delightful blend of music and observation delivered with effortless flourish and wit’.
The Wellington concert at St Mary of the Angels, 2pm Sunday 10 March, will be presented by Dame Malvina Major, and dedicated to Hainsworth’s former teacher and friend Maxwell Fernie, the acclaimed New Zealand organist, choral conductor and teacher.
As a choirboy at St Mark’s School, Wellington Chris Hainsworth always dreamt of playing the ‘mighty organ’. As soon as his feet could reach the pedals he abandoned the piano in favour of the organ – the instrument that would take him around the world, first studying across Belgium and France then teaching at the Conservatoires of Perpignan, Andorra, before taking up the position of Director of the Beziers Conservatoire.
Now Principal Organist of the Cathedral of Beziers, Chris is returning to New Zealand with a series of special Organ Proms delivered with his trademark blend of delightfully curated music and observational wit.
The programme includes music from Theodore Dubois, Scarlatti, Kreisler, Mendelssohn and Bach, and finishes with a gloriously indulgent crescendo: the ‘Grand Megalomaniacal Improvisation’ on themes suggested by the audience.
Described by at least one Wellington reviewer as ‘New Zealand’s most entertaining classical organist’, Hainsworth has established himself at the forefront of concert organists with entertaining, informative and thought-provoking performances.
All proceeds from the Wellington concert will go to the Maxwell Fernie Dame Malvina Major Foundation Award established to honour the memory of Maxwell with an annual award supporting young New Zealand organists to further their education or training.
Maxwell Fernie OBE (1910–1999) was a renowned New Zealand organist, teacher and conductor. He was an authority on Gregorian chant, sixteenth century polyphony, organ construction and tonal design. He was music director and organist at St Mary of the Angels for many years.
Source: Maxwell Fernie Trust