James O'Donnell (organist)

O'Donnell was appointed Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) in the 2023 New Year Honours.

Among the occasions of national prominence in O'Donnell's responsibility, watched worldwide, were the funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002, the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011, and the service of thanksgiving for the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 29 March 2022. On 14 September 2022, he conducted his choral setting of Psalm 139 (1-18, 23-end), "LORD, thou hast searched me out, and known me", for the reception of the Queen's coffin at Westminster Hall, sung by the Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Choir of His Majesty's Chapel Royal. He led the choir and the singing at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on 19 September 2022 at Westminster Abbey, including a new psalm setting by Judith Weir, "Like as the hart" and the new anthem "Who shall separate us?" by James MacMillan.

On 26 April 2022 it was announced that O'Donnell would be taking up a position in 2023 as professor in the practice of music at the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

In a 2014 live recording from the restored Royal Festival Hall, O'Donnell played both Poulenc's Organ Concerto and Saint-Saëns's Third Symphony, with organ, Op. 78, with Nézet-Séguin conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra. A reviewer noted his organ-playing with "sensitivity and spark".

O'Donnell combined in a 2014 recording Music for Remembrance, Duruflè's Requiem, in the orchestral version, with choral works written in memory of those fallen in the World Wars, including Three Prayers of Dietrich Bonhoeffer set by Philip Moore, and The peace that surpasseth understanding by John Tavener, performed by soloists Christine Rice and Roderick Williams, the Westminster Abbey Choir, the Britten Sinfonia and organist Robert Quinney, conducted by O'Donnell and recorded at Westminster Abbey. He said at a recording session: "I spend my life working against the clock, and people don't make good music if they're under pressure. If you stay calm it gives everyone a sporting chance of getting on with it."

He has been elected a Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music (FRSCM), and is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music (HonRAM) and a Fellow of the Royal College of Music (FRCM). He became an honorary fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, in 2011, and in 2013 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen.

He has held the position of organist and master of the choristers of Westminster Abbey since 2000. With the choir of the Westminster Abbey, he recorded Music for Remembrance, written in memory of those who died in the two World Wars, including Duruflé's Requiem. He has been responsible for the music at several national functions at Westminster, including the funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002, the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011, the 2022 service of thanksgiving for the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

In 2000, O'Donnell was appointed organist and master of the choristers of Westminster Abbey, the first Catholic to be appointed to the nearly 500-year-old role. He has been responsible for the daily choral services, functions for special occasions, and concerts, broadcasts, recordings and tours. The Abbey Choir has travelled throughout Europe, to the United States, the Far East and Australia.

O'Donnell has received several awards and honours. In 1998 his Hyperion recording of Martin and Pizzetti Masses with Westminster Cathedral Choir received the Gramophone Award for record of the year and best choral record. In 1999 Westminster Cathedral Choir under his direction was given the Royal Philharmonic Society Award, the first time a choir had been so honoured. Upon leaving Westminster Cathedral in December 1999, he was awarded the papal honour of Knight Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great (KCSG) by Pope John Paul II.

In 1998, he conducted the Westminster Cathedral Choir in two major works of sacred works for a cappella choir, both composed in 1922: Martin's Mass for Double Choir and Pizzetti's Messa di Requiem. A reviewer from Hi-Fi News commented that the singers responded to their conductor "in inspirational fashion", and noted "choral singing of great security and immaculate tonal blend, ardent and full-throated in tuttis yet wonderfully serene too". On the same CD of Hyperion Records, he conducted Pizzetti's De profundis from 1837, and he played Martin's Passacaille for organ, composed in 1944. Robert Layton from Gramophone wrote that "It is a measure of James O'Donnell's achievement with Westminster Cathedral Choir that the gain in purity and beauty is at no time at the expense of depth and fervour. This is an altogether moving and eloquent performance, often quite thrilling and always satisfying."

O'Donnell has been teaching at the Royal Academy of Music from 1997, was president of the Royal College of Organists from 2001 to 2013, and will be designated professor at Yale University, to begin teaching from 2023.

O'Donnell was professor of organ at the Royal Academy of Music from 1997 to 2004, and remains a visiting professor. In July 2010, O'Donnell began his term of office as president-elect of the Royal College of Organists. He became president in January 2011, serving as such until June 2013.

Conducting the Westminster Cathedral Choir, O'Donnell recorded in 1995 works by Maurice Duruflé, his Requiem in the organ version combined with the Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens, Notre Père and the Messe cum jubilo.

O'Donnell was the organist for a 1993 recording of works by Camille Saint-Saëns, reissued in 2019. It includes his Requiem, Op. 54, his Third Symphony, with organ, Op. 78, and the overture of La princesse jaune, Op. 30. It was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, combined choirs from Hertfordshire, Harlow and East London, with soloists Tinuke Olafimihan, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Anthony Roden, and Simon Kirkbride, conducted by Geoffrey Simon.

In 1987, O'Donnell came first in the Royal College of Organists' Performer of the Year competition. He appeared as a concert organist around the world, in halls including the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas, the Walt Disney Concert Hall of Los Angeles, and the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. He played at festivals such as the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. He played as a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra several times, including a performance of Poulenc's Organ Concerto in the opening of the restored Royal Festival Hall, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He was also a soloist with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. He appeared as continuo player in concerts and recordings with period-instrument ensembles, including The King's Consort and the Gabrieli Consort and Players. He conducted ensembles such as the Academy of Ancient Music, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the BBC Singers and The English Concert. He is the music director of St James' Baroque, a period instrument ensemble in London.

O'Donnell was born in Scotland but moved to England where he attended Westcliff High School for Boys. While still there, he won a scholarship for organ and harpsichord at the Royal College of Music. He then studied at Cambridge University, where he was organ scholar of Jesus College. He studied the organ with Peter Hurford, Nicolas Kynaston and David Sanger, graduating with honours in 1982.

O'Donnell was appointed assistant master of music at Westminster Cathedral in 1982, succeeding as master of music in 1988. During his tenure, the profile and international reputation of the Cathedral Choir increased. A 1998 recording of masses for choir a cappella by Frank Martin and Ildebrando Pizzetti received both the Record of the Year award from Gramophone and a Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award in 1999, which was unprecedented for a cathedral choir.

James Anthony O'Donnell LVO KCSG (born 15 August 1961) is a British organist, choral conductor and academic teacher. He was master of music at Westminster Cathedral in London from 1988 to 2000 and made recordings with the cathedral choir; their recording of Frank Martin's Mass for Double Choir and Ildebrando Pizzetti's Messa di Requiem received awards. O'Donnell has played organ concerts and appeared with choirs internationally. He recorded Poulenc's Organ Concerto and Saint-Saëns's Third Symphony, with organ, among others.