Music & Organ

Christopher Saward has been Director of Music at the Church of the Annunciation since 1992, and has won acclaim for the 'verve and panache' of his Bach playing [The Organ].

An FRCO at the age of nineteen, he previously held the posts of Assistant Organist and Acting Director of Music at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge. He has regularly appeared as organist for Cambridge Voices, with whom he gave the World Premiere of Ian de Massini's Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis at Westminster Abbey in 1998.

As well as a long standing enthusiasm for modern French organ music, he has a special interest in organ improvisation in the liturgy, for which the High Anglican ceremony at The Annunciation affords him ample opportunity.

The Church of the Annunciation is a fine Edwardian Gothic style building with excellent acoustics for choral and organ music.

The church itself occupies a relatively small ground plan, but its high stone vaulting lends a resonance and bloom to the sound which might often be associated only with much larger buildings.

The organ, originally built by Rothwell in 1915, underwent a major restoration by the firm of Bishop and Son in 1989. Its specification covers a wide tonal palette which combined with the church's acoustic, provides a particularly satisfying sound.