The Royal Socitey of British Organists

Biographies


Sir Xavier Q. Pouncey

Born in 1935, Xavier began his musical studies as a chorister in Winchester Cathedral. At the age of 15 he gained his ARCO and was organ scholar at Winchester by that time. He then went on to persue a musical education at Queen's College Cambridge where he was also organ scholar and director of the Queen's College Chorale. At the age of 19 he achieved his FRCO and LRSM. He furthered his study by undertaking a post-graduate in Organ Performance and Interpretation at the University of Ulster. He subsequently gained a PhD in Musicology and took up the position of titular organist of the Church of St. Anne's, Glentworth. In 1997 he was approached by Mr. Jonathon Albright to set up the Royal Society of British Organists, who kindly donated the cost of establishing this society.

Sir Xavier Pouncey is now chairperson of the RSBO and holds bright visions for the future of English Organ Music.


Pricilla Pembroke

Pricilla, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, studied organ with John Pilkington, at the Northern College of Music where she gained her LRSM and also obtained a B.Ed from the University of Glasgow. Pricilla is currently a concert organist and a highly regarded tutor of the instrument


Henry Goodbody

Henry began his musical career as a chorister in Liverpool cathedral and subsequently trained as an organist with Ian Treacy. A former organ scholar of Hereford Cathedral, he has gained a BMus from Bristol University and also achieved an FRCO and an FTCL in that time. Henry has broadcast with both the BBC and Classic fm in performances of Poulenc's organ concerto and Durufle's Requiem as well as a number of other solo recitals.


Beatrice Schmidth

Beatrice hails from Passau, Bavaria, Germany and has been resident in Dover for a number of years. She has studied organ with Lionel Rogg at the Geneva Conservatoire of Music where she obtained a MusB and the Prix de Virtuosite. She also holds an LRSM and is head of Organ and Keyboard Studies at the Royal Society of British Organists, Huntingdon.


Victor Charlesworth

Born in South Africa in the early fifties, Victor, although an engineer, is certainly an accomplished organist. By the age of 17 he had gained an FRCO and an organ scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford where he obtained his BEng. He is a frequent organ recitalist in both the UK and on the Continent. He is also responsible for the maintainance of this Web site, together with Mrs. Lilly Davis.


Mrs. Lilly Davis

Lilly has been assistant librarian at the University of Reading for many years and since she retired, she has revived her old interest in organ music and become the secretary to the Royal Society of British Organists. She holds a BPhil from the university of Canterbury and a DipLib from Gillingham College. Lilly specialises in playing the works of Messiaen and Stanford.


(c) 1998 RSBO