Gordon goes west!

Jun 9 2006 By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A MAN who has put organ music on the map in Huddersfield is heading Stateside.

Gordon Stewart, 53, Kirklees Borough Organist for the past 17 years, has taken up a post in the state of Colorado.

From September, he will be the Director of Music at Grace and St Stephen's Church in Colorado Springs.

It means that the popular performer has already played his last concert on Huddersfield Town Hall's Father Willis organ.

The new season of lunchtime concerts, starting in September, will be a series of recitals by visiting organists.

Gordon is the man credited with revitalising Huddersfield's lunchtime concerts; they have seen audiences increase five-fold.

"I will miss the Father Willis," said Gordon. "We got on terribly well and played good music together."

Scotland-born Gordon is internationally renowned as an organist and has travelled across Europe, Canada, South Africa and Australia, as well as the USA, to perform.

For 11 years he was the organist at Manchester Cathedral and Director of Music at Blackburn Cathedral for three years.

For the past 11 years he has been one of the regular musical directors for BBC Radio 4's Daily Service and television's Songs of

Praise.

Gordon is also in demand as a teacher and adjudicator and has given masterclasses for a number of colleges, universities and organ associations.

He is a past-president of the Incorporated Association of Organists and has been awarded honorary fellowships of the Royal School of Church Music and the Royal College of Organists.

This year he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Huddersfield University for his services to music in Kirklees.

Gordon said his time as Kirklees Borough Organist had been `fantastic', but that it was time for a new challenge.

"I just felt I had another job in me before I am too old to be considered," he said.

"Also, it will be nice to have my own choirs to direct - and nice not to have to live out of a suitcase."

Despite his extensive travels, Gordon had never been to Colorado Springs before flying there to be interviewed for the job.

He thinks he has found his American dream.

He said: "It is an exciting place, with lots going on in a great climate. It has the same weather 365 days a year and my office looks out at the Rockies. It is beautiful."

Gordon has gathered many fans in Kirklees with his own inimitable style of performing.

The Huddersfield lunchtime concert series, organised in conjunction with Opera North and containing a mix of concerts by him and guest organists, has seen a steady increase in popularity.

Regular attendances are now over 230.