Gordon Brodie Stewart BEM (born 1952 [1] ) is a British organist, conductor, and teacher.
Stewart was born in Dundee, Scotland. [1] His first appointment as an organist was at Dundee Methodist Church at the age of 14, followed by St. James' Church in Dundee. Stewart studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and the Geneva Conservatoire. Among his organ teachers were Eric Chadwick, Gillian Weir, and Lionel Rogg. He also studied piano with Kathleen McGrath, flute with Vivienne Leigh, harpsichord with Robert Elliott of the Alfred Deller Consort, and choir-training with John Bertalot.
While in Geneva, Stewart was the organist and choirmaster of the American Church and assistant organist at the Anglican Church. On returning to the UK, Stewart was Director of Music at the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Bowdon for four years.
Stewart made regular appearances as Musical Director for BBC Radio 4's The Daily Service and the BBC's Songs of Praise over a period of fifteen years until 2011. [2]
Stewart worked in cathedral music for many years; he was the organist at Manchester Cathedral between 1981 and 1992 and performed a concert series in 1985 in which he played the complete organ works of J S Bach. From 1994 to 1998, he was the organist at Blackburn Cathedral. He was also Director of the Royal School of Church Music Millennium Youth Choir between 2002 and 2004.
He was also on the teaching staff at the Royal Northern College of Music between 1985 and 2000 and at Chetham's School of Music from 1981 to 1996 as organ tutor and lecturer in choir training. [3] He is now a visiting organ tutor at the University of Cambridge. [4] He has led masterclasses for the Incorporated Association of Organists, Royal School of Church Music, Royal College of Organists, Royal College of Music, Hull University, Shenandoah University in Virginia, Alkmaar Organ Academy, and Pretoria University in South Africa. As of July 2013 he is an organ tutor at the Oundle International Festival Oundle for Organists summer school. Former pupils have held positions at St. Paul's Cathedral London, Westminster Abbey, Wells Cathedral, Llandaff Cathedral, St Mary's Cathedral Edinburgh, and Coventry Cathedral.
Stewart has been Borough Organist in Kirklees at the Huddersfield Town Hall since 1989, playing regular organ recitals on the 1865 Henry Willis & Sons organ. [5] He regularly tours abroad as an organ recitalist, most recently in Denmark at the cathedrals of Aarhus and Copenhagen in Summer 2015. He has played concerts throughout Europe and the United States, South Africa in 2016 [6] and Australia. In 2011, he was in Sweden giving masterclasses at the Göteborg International Organ Academy [7] His repertoire covers all the major schools of organ composition.
Stewart was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to music. [8]
Various composers have written music for him, including:
Text from Psalm 139, set for baritone solo, seven-part men's voices and organ.