Wayne Ea Marshall (born 13 January 1961,

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

, Lancashire) is a British pianist, organist, and conductor.

Biography

Marshall was born to parents originally from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

. He began piano studies at age 3, and heard organ music regularly as a child through Sunday church services, which initiated his interest in the organ. He was a student at

Chetham's School of Music Chetham's School of Music () is an independent co-educational music school in Manchester, England. Chetham's educates students between the ages of 8 and 18, all of whom enter via musical auditions. Students receive a full academic education a ...

, Manchester, from 1971 to 1979. Marshall continued his music studies at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

, where he held a Foundation scholarship, and was in parallel an Organ Scholar at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. He did post-graduate studies at the

Hochschule für Musik A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

in Vienna from 1983-1984. As an organist, Marshall has served as organist and associate artist of the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. In 2004, he gave the inaugural organ recital in the new Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles. Also in Los Angeles, in October 2004, he premiered

James MacMillan Sir James Loy MacMillan, (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor. Early life MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is James MacMi ...

's organ concerto '' A Scotch Bestiary'' with the

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the ...

under

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

. Marshall has appeared as an organist at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

As a conductor, Marshall has held such posts as principal guest conductor of the

Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi The Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (Symphony Orchestra of Milan Giuseppe Verdi) is an Italian orchestra based in Milan. The orchestra refers to itself as ''La Verdi'' colloquially. The orchestra's primary residence is the ''Auditor ...

, beginning in 2007. Marshall was chief conductor of the WDR Funkhausorchester from 2014 to 2020. Marshall conducted the first concert of the

Chineke! Orchestra Chineke! Orchestra () is a British orchestra, the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority Black & ethnically diverse musicians. The word Chineke derives from the Igbo language meaning "God". The orchestra was founded by m ...

, Europe's first professional black and ethnic minority orchestra, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in September 2015. His work with contemporary music has included conducting the European premiere of

John Harbison John Harris Harbison (born December 20, 1938) is an American composer, known for his symphonies, operas, and large choral works. Life John Harris Harbison was born on December 20, 1938, in Orange, New Jersey, to the historian Elmore Harris Harbi ...

's opera ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

'' at the

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

on 6 December 2015.

Honours and awards

In 2004, Marshall received an Honorary Doctorate from

Bournemouth University Bournemouth University is a public university in Bournemouth, England, with its main campus situated in neighbouring Poole. The university was founded in 1992; however, the origins of its predecessor date back to the early 1900s. The univer ...

. He became a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

in 2010. In October 2016, he was one of the recipients of the Barbados Golden Jubilee Award, for his services to music. Marshall was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to music.

Selected discography

* ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'' (1988) * ''The Virtuoso Organist'' (1990) * ''Gershwin: Second Rhapsody; Piano Concerto in F; Porgy & Bess Symphonic Suite'' (1995) * ''Gershwin: Rhapsody in blue; I got rhythm; An American in Paris'' (1995) * ''Gershwin: Songbook & Improvisations'' (1997) * ''I Got Rhythm: Wayne Marshall Plays Gershwin'' (1997) * ''The Most Unforgettable Organ Classics Ever'' (1998) * ''Symphonie'' (1998) * ''Wayne Marshall Plays Bach, Liszt, Brahms'' (1998) * ''Grainger: Works for Piano'' (1999) * ''Swing It!'' (1999) * ''Organ Improvisations'' (1999) * ''Two of a Kind'' (2000) * ''Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; An American in Paris; Piano Concerto; Porgy & Bess'' (2002) * ''Organ Works; Organ Transcriptions'' (2003) * ''Popular Pieces for Trumpet and Organ'' (2005) * ''Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; Concerto in F; Porgy and Bess Suite'' (2005) * ''Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; Piano Concerto; An American in Paris; Porgy and Bess Suite'' (2005) * ''Wedding Favourites'' (2005) * ''James Macmillan: A Scotch Bestiary; Piano Concerto No. 2'' (2006) * ''Blues'' (2006) * ''George Gershwin: Concerto in F; Variations on 'I Got Rhythm'; Song Improvisations'' (2010) * ''Rhapsody in Swing'' (2012) * ''John Rutter: The Piano Collection'' (2020)

References

External links

Official website of Wayne Marshall

Wayne Marshall page at AllMusic

Agencia Camera agency page on Wayne Marshall

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Wayne English classical organists British male organists Organ improvisers English classical pianists Male classical pianists English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) Black British classical musicians Alumni of the Royal College of Music People educated at Chetham's School of Music Musicians from the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Oldham 1961 births Living people 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century organists 21st-century British male musicians English people of Barbadian descent Male classical organists