Roger Sayer - return to Welcome
Organ Recitals Nationwide
Programme
Sonata No 4 in B flat - Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47)
Allegro con brio
Andante Religioso
Allegretto
Allegro vivace e maestoso
Concerto in D minor (BWV 596)
Vivaldi (1678-1741)/Bach (1685-1750)
Introduction-Fuga
Largo e spiccato
Allegro
Pièce d’Orgue (BWV 572) - J S Bach (1685-1750)
Toccata, Choral and Fugue - Francis Jackson (1917-2022)
Cantilena from Sonata 11 - Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901)
Jupiter from Planet Suite
Gustav Holst (1874-1934) arr Jonathan Scott (b.1978)
Biography
ROGER SAYER has been a British music star for over 30 years as well as achieving international recognition as an organist, choral director, educator and examiner. His exceptional talent proved itself early when he won the St Albans International Organ Competition in 1989 and a year later was appointed Director of Music at Rochester Cathedral before the age of 30. Music flourished at Rochester through solo recitals, broadcasts and recordings. This period also saw the establishment of a girls’ choir and a performance series of the complete works of JS Bach.
Roger was appointed Director of Music at Temple Church, London in 2013 and in addition to frequent recitals and broadcasts undertook tours with the celebrated Temple Church Choir in Europe, Australia and North America. In 2022 he received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) in recognition of his contribution to choral music.
Throughout his church responsibilities, Roger has maintained a free-lance presence in organ recitals around the world and ventured into wider fields such as game shows. For ten years, he was Deputy Chorus Director and Accompanist of the London Symphony Chorus. He has compiled an impressive YouTube channel of over 150 videos of the standard organ repertoire which is an invaluable resource for students and organ aficionados. Choral and solo organ recordings such as The Temple Tradition and The Complete Organ Sonatas of Josef Rheinberger have been widely praised.
In 2014, he received a phone call from Hans Zimmer that changed his life: an invitation to record the organ part for the blockbuster Interstellar, released later the same year. Roger has since performed live with Zimmer at the Royal Albert Hall and in 2023 at the O2 in the show HANS ZIMMER LIVE to an audience of 40,000.
Roger left Temple in 2023 to pursue a full-time concert career and has since performed in Australia and many European countries. A major focus of his work is Interstellar 10, where he shares his experience of working with Hans Zimmer before performing his own version of the original score – which no other organist is in a position to do. Already playing to sell-out audiences, Roger enthuses: I find it very inspiring to see this music reaching both young and old; it is not difficult to grasp why Zimmer considers it his best score’. He will mark the 10th anniversary of the film with performances throughout Europe, Australia and a major tour across Canada.
‚He is without doubt an extraordinary artist whose humanity shines in the impeccable artistry that flows from his hands‘ (Hans Zimmer)
