Daniel Cook (born 7 September 1979) is an organist, conductor and singer. Since Autumn 2017 he has been Master of the Choristers and Organist at

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of ...

.Daniel Cook appointed Master of the Choristers and Organist at Durham Cathedral
/ref> In 2013 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM).

Education and early career

Cook's first organ teacher was Keith Wright at

. After a gap year as Organ Scholar of

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire, England, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Bles ...

, he studied at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

with Nicolas Kynaston, James O'Donnell and

Patrick Russill Patrick Russill (born 9 September 1953) is an English choral conductor, organist and music conservatoire teacher. He is currently Head of Choral Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, London (since 1997), where he is also a professor of organ ...

, whilst also working as Organ Scholar of

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwar ...

and Westminster Abbey. Upon graduating with first-class honours, he was appointed Assistant Organist of Westminster Abbey.

Cathedral career

Salisbury

In 2005, Cook was appointed Assistant Director of Music at

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buil ...

. During his time at Salisbury, Cook made his debut solo organ recordings with Priory Records, a recording company with whom he has released 14 solo CDs to date. Most of these have been made on the world-famous Father Willis Organ in Salisbury, whose digital sampling for the

Hauptwerk Hauptwerk is a computer program, brought by Milan Digital Audio, designed to allow the playback or live performance of pipe organ music using MIDI and recorded sound samples. In other words, Hauptwerk is a software that allows its user to play ...

organ software Cook oversaw. Alongside his duties at the cathedral, Cook also conducted The Farrant Singers and founded The Mousai Singers, a group which he still conducts.

St Davids

Cook left Salisbury in 2011 to take up the posts of Organist & Master of the Choristers at

St Davids Cathedral St Davids Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Tyddewi) is situated in St DavidsBritain's smallest city in the county of Pembrokeshire, near the most westerly point of Wales. Early history The monastic community was founded by Saint David, Abbot o ...

and Artistic Director of the St Davids Cathedral Festival. During his time in St Davids, Cook was also Music Director of the Dyfed Choir.

Westminster Abbey

In 2013, Cook was appointed Sub-Organist of Westminster Abbey. He played the organ for several special services broadcast on BBC Television, including services of thanksgiving on the 70th anniversary of VE Day and the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. He accompanied the Abbey Choir on a CD release of music by

Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 18487 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Richmond Hill in Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 18 ...

on Hyperion, which includes his own arrangement of ''

Blest Pair of Sirens ''Blest Pair of Sirens'' is a short work for choir and orchestra by the English composer Hubert Parry, setting John Milton's ode ''At a solemn Musick''. It was first performed at St James's Hall, London on 17 May 1887, conducted by its dedicat ...

''.

Durham

In 2017 he took up the office of Master of the Choristers and Organist at

in Autumn 2017, succeeding

James Lancelot James Bennett Lancelot (born 2 December 1952) was master of the Choristers, and cathedral organist at Durham Cathedral from 1985. He retired in 2017 and was appointed canon organist emeritus by the bishop of Durham. Lancelot was educated at St P ...

who had held the position for 32 years.

Miscellaneous

Cook is Artistic Director of the Mousai Singers.

Discography

Solo

Conductor

The Feast of David
St Davids Cathedral Choir (Priory, 2013)

The Mousai Singers (Mousai Records, 2013)

Accompanist

Finzi, Bax & Ireland
(Hyperion, 2017)
Parry: I Was Glad & other choral works
(Hyperion, 2015)
The Complete Psalms of David Volume 2
(Priory, 2012)
Bernard Naylor – The Nine Motets
(Priory, 2010)
Christmas at Salisbury Cathedral
(Priory, 2010)
Best Loved Anthems from Salisbury
(Priory, 2007)
The Resurrection – McEnery
(Priory, 2007)
The Virgin Mary's Journey
(Griffin, 2006)

(Cantoris, 2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Daniel Living people 1979 births English classical organists British male organists English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) Place of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century organists 21st-century British male musicians People educated at English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College Male classical organists