We are really looking forward to next Monday's recital, 20th October at 1pm, when Joshua Hughes returns to play for us. When Joshua last played for us he was a student at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and he came to play for our annual celebration of the organ. He impressed us all! Join us to welcome him back. Free entrance with retiring collection; your donations help us to maintain our historic 'Handel' organ. Bring your lunch, sit back and start your week listening to superb music in a beautiful building. A warm welcome awaits you!
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach - Duettos, Nos. 1-4, BWV 802-805
Robert Schumann - Sketches for Pedal Piano, Op. 58, Nos. 1 and 4
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Fugue in E minor, WoO 13 (transcribed by Martin Schmeding)
Biography
After graduating from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with a first-class bachelor’s degree, Joshua continued study at the Universität der Künste, Berlin, in the class of Prof. Henry Fairs. He is an Associate of the Royal College of Organists (ARCO), an Associate of the Royal Schools of Music (ARSM), and an Associate of Trinity College London (ATCL). Whilst in Germany, he played in recitals at the Marienkirche, Pauluskirche, Immanuelkirche (among others) and was able to explore the nearby Amalien organ (for which CPE Bach wrote his six organ sonatas). Highlights of this period included the opportunity to perform two recitals at the Stadtkirche St. Wenzel on the famous Hildebrandt organ, and to have premiered Szathmáry's Rubik's Cube as a semi-finalist in the 2023 Mendelssohn Hochschulwettbewerb (Mendelssohn University Competition).
Before moving to Germany, Joshua studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, with teachers Daniel Moult and Nicholas Wearne. Whilst at RBC, he performed with the organ department in their annual Christmas concerts, had first-hand experience on historically significant organs in France and Holland on department study trips, participated in masterclasses with Nathan Laube, Erwan le Prado, Eric Lebrun and Sietze de Vries, and performed at St Paul's Cathedral, London. During part of his undergraduate study, from 2019-2021, Joshua was also Director of Music at St Paul's Church in the Jewellery Quarter (Birmingham).
A significant part of his undergraduate studies was a semester abroad on the Erasmus Programme in the first semester of his third year, where he studied at the University of Music and Theatre "Felix Bartholdy” Leipzig, with Prof. Dr. Martin Schmeding and Johannes Trümpler.