Our people | granthamchoralsociety

David Humphreys has been Musical Director of Grantham Choral Society since September 2019. He now combines extensive freelance work as both conductor and organist with work in the civil service, having previously spent fifteen years in cathedral music where he held roles at St Albans, St Edmundsbury and Peterborough Cathedrals. During that time, he directed and accompanied cathedral choirs on a daily basis and in numerous concerts and recordings, whilst also working extensively with local choral groups. He also spent two terms as Acting Director of Music at Peterborough, when he was responsible for the cathedral’s entire music programme, including all provision for choral services.

David studied at the Royal Academy of Music with David Titterington and then with Thomas Trotter. He read music at the University of Cambridge, where, as an award-winning organ scholar at Jesus College, he gained his fellowship of the Royal College of Organists. He has appeared on BBC radio and television on numerous occasions, has toured widely across Europe and in the USA, and has directed and performed with ensembles including Britten Sinfonia and Instruments of Time and Truth. He has performed for a number of royal engagements, including, whilst at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, playing for the Office for the Royal Maundy in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

David is committed to developing the next generation of young musicians and enjoys an active role as a private teacher. He founded Peterborough Cathedral’s highly successful Youth Choir in 2015, overseeing its development and concert and recording debuts. He has taught for Oundle for Organists and at the University of Cambridge and for nearly a decade helped run the professional development network for cathedral organists. He enjoys bringing the organ to a wider audience and is an experienced recitalist, playing at venues across the UK including Westminster and St Paul’s cathedrals. His final solo CD, from Peterborough Cathedral, released in 2015 on the Regent label, received widespread critical acclaim, Church Music Quarterly summing it up as ‘fabulous music played on a superb organ by a gifted and exciting organist’, whilst Gramophone hailed it as ‘a disc full of delights’, with ‘about as compelling a case for the Fantasia and Fugue in G by Parry as it has ever received on disc.’

Our accompanist Ivan Linford enjoys a busy freelance career as an organist and pianist. Based in Oakham, he is also accompanist to the Rutland Choral Society and Leicester Bach Choir. He is a member of the team of organists at Warren Hill Crematorium, Kettering and plays the organ in a variety of churches in the local area for Sunday services and other events. He is also much in demand further afield, for playing at weddings, funerals and concerts.

He holds the degrees of Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts from the University of Huddersfield and is an Associate of the Royal College of Organists and Fellow of the Independent Society of Musicians. As a postgraduate student, he was Organ Scholar at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral and subsequently held posts at Oakham Parish Church, Leicester Cathedral and Oakham School. Born in 1973 in Peterborough, he was a former chorister at the Cathedral. As a choral accompanist, he has visited various countries including Ireland, France, Belgium, Italy, Hungary and the USA. He has given organ recitals and accompanied choirs at many English cathedrals (including Westminster and St Paul’s in London) and has also performed on BBC television and radio.