Artistic and Executive Director
David Titterington is Artistic Director of St Albans International Organ Festival, Head of Organ at the Royal Academy of Music, and a Professor of the University of London.
He was Organ Scholar at the University of Oxford before continuing his studies in Paris with Marie-Claire Alain and Susan Landale at the Conservatoire de Reuil-Malmaison where he won a ‘Premier Prix a l’unanimité’ and later in Prague with Petr Eben.
David Titterington performs in recitals and concertos at major festivals worldwide including the bi-centennial Festival of Sydney and international festivals of Hong Kong, New Zealand, Adelaide, Tokyo, Guelph, Schleswig Holstein, Israel, Istanbul, City of London, Belfast, Brighton, Cheltenham and Harrogate. For eighteen years, he gave masterclasses and recitals at Dartington International Summer School.
He made his BBC Proms debut in 1990 with a solo recital at the Royal Albert Hall including a commission
from Diana Burrell, Arched forms with bells. Other BBC Proms appearances include the UK premiere of Henze’s Ninth Symphony with BBC Symphony Orchestra. Royal Festival Hall recitals include his debut in 1986 followed by a 50th anniversary recital which included the premiere of Stephen Montague’s Toccare Incandescent. His 2016 RFH recital included the premiere of a Southbank commissioned work by Sally Beamish, Chaconne.
Throughout his career, David Titterington has worked closely with many composers including commissioned works, first performances and in recital with works by Petr Eben, Mauricio Kagel, Diana Burrell, Lyell Cresswell, Peter Dickinson, Jonathan Dove, Paul Patterson, Giles Swayne, Per Nørgård, Sally Beamish. He gave the New Zealand premiere of Olivier Messiaen’s Livre du Saint Sacrement – ‘a performance of spellbinding authority… of staggering intensity and brilliance’ (The Dominion, Wellington).
He has performed with distinguished soloists including Hakan Hardenberger, Christian Lindberg, John Wallace, Thomas Sanderling and Ingo Metzmacher, and with City of London Sinfonia, Lahti Symphony
Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, La Camerata of Athens, BBC Symphony and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras.
David Titterington has been awarded numerous honours and awards including Fellowship (honoris causa) of the Royal College of Organists, a Doctorate (honoris causa), Honorary Professorship of the Liszt Academy in Budapest, and Honorary Doctorates by the Universities of Huddersfield and Bolton. He is an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, a Fellow Commoner of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and in 2018 was conferred an Honorary Fellowship of King’s College London.
In 1992, he co-founded [with Dinah Molloy-Thompson] the Eric Thompson Charitable Trust for Organists which awards significant grants to support the training of young organists at the beginning of their careers. Over 200 students have benefitted from the trust and several now hold prestigious positions in cathedrals, Oxbridge colleges, schools and churches.
Recent and forthcoming recitals include Sogakudo Hall, Tokyo and Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul; and Visiting
Professor at the National University of the Arts, Tokyo and the National University of the Arts and Yonsei
University in Seoul. In 2025, a tour in China included recitals in Beijing (Central Conservatory of Music),
Gulangyu (Xiamen), Nanning and Chengdu. 2026 engagements include Germany, France, South Korea, and China including Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Photo by Chris Christodoulou