Organ Recital: Hugh Rowlands

Hugh Rowlands is Assistant Organist at New College, Oxford. Previously he has been Assistant Master of Music at the Chapels Royal, HM Tower of London, and Acting Director of Music at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University.

As a soloist, he has given recitals at major venues in the UK, including Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, and the St Albans International Organ Festival. Hugh has worked with a broad range of  leading groups and performers, appearing across the UK and internationally, including at the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre, the Paris Philharmonie, St Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York, Shanghai Symphony Hall, and the National Centre for Performing Arts, Beijing. Recent engagements include collaborations with the Grange Festival Opera, English Chamber Orchestra, Alamire, London Choral Sinfonia, the London Contemporary Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Swedish folk duo, First Aid Kit, and Icelandic duo, Jònsi and Alex. As a pianist, he has worked with Roderick Williams, Graham Johnson and Iain Burnside. He has recorded on the SOMM and Albion labels, and performed on BBC Radio 3. In 2024, he made his first solo recording of the Klais organ at Haileybury, as well as a CD of choral music with Haileybury Chamber Choir. A regular member of the James McVinnie ensemble, he has performed at the Barbican Centre, Saffron Hall, Bold Tendencies, and the Southbank Centre.

Hugh is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists. He has held organ scholarships at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, King’s Voices, King’s College, and the Royal Hospital Chelsea. From 2021–2024, he was Deputy Director of Music at Haileybury College.