Biography

David Briggs is one of the world's foremost concert organists, with an unusual specialty in the French improvisatory tradition. He began his career in cathedral posts and then became mostly a concert organist. Briggs was born on November 1, 1962, in Bromsgrove, near Birmingham, England. His grandfather, Lawrence Briggs, had been a longtime Birmingham church organist, and his parents met while playing in a Birmingham orchestra. David's first formal musical experiences came as a chorister at Birmingham Cathedral, and it was there that he first became interested in the organ; an assistant let him improvise on the organ when the regular organist was not present. In 1973, Briggs earned a full scholarship to the Solihull School, studying piano, violin, viola, counterpoint, harmony, and organ. He won many honors during this period and also traveled to London for lessons with David Popplewell. He also played the viola in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain from 1977 to 1981. From 1981 to 1984, Briggs studied organ at King's College, Cambridge. In 1982 and 1983, he performed in the annual Festival of Lessons and Carols before a worldwide audience of 35 million. Briggs also traveled to Paris for lessons in repertoire and improvisation with Jean Langlais, and there, he became interested in the organ improvisations of Pierre Cochereau. He transcribed Cochereau's improvisations from cassette recordings, a task that took 11 years. From 1985 to 2002, Briggs held organist posts at Hereford, Truro, and Gloucester Cathedrals. At the latter two institutions, he served as a consultant for the refurbishing of the cathedral organs, and at Gloucester, he also served as conductor for the venerable Three Choirs Festival. In 1994, he made his recording debut on the Priory Records label with the album Improvisation, The Illusionist's Art. Since then, he has also recorded for Delos, Pro Organo, Analekta, and other labels. On Analekta, he recorded a complete cycle of his transcriptions of Mahler's symphonies for organ; he is prolific as an arranger, often of orchestral works. Briggs moved to the U.S. in 2003 and has stayed on in North America, living in New York, Ipswich, Massachusetts, and Toronto. He tours internationally, giving some 65 concerts annually. Since 2017, Briggs has been artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. By 2022, his recording catalog numbered some 30 items, and that year, he released the album Vaughan Williams: Transcriptions from Truro on the Albion label. ~ James Manheim, Rovi