Musical Director: Edward Taylor
Edward Taylor is the Assistant Organist and Director of Consort at Carlisle Cathedral, as well as being Musical Director for Penrith Singers, and works as a concert organist, conductor and accompanist. Edward has performed in many prestigious venues including Westminster Abbey, Ely Cathedral, Durham Cathedral, Leeds Town Hall, Hull City Hall and Liverpool Cathedral in the UK and St Petri Hauptkirche, Hamburg, Germany, Hardenburg Church in Holland, Brussels Cathedral, Belgium and Salzburg Cathedral, Austria.
Edward holds a Bachelor of Music Degree and is an Associate of the Royal College of Organists having studied at the University of Leeds with David Sanger, Simon Lindley and Henry Fairs and at the Strasbourg Conservatoire with Parisian organist, Christophe Mantoux.
Edward's vast organ solo repertoire consists of works spanning five centuries from the Renaissance period to the 21st Century, specialising particularly in music of the French Romantic Period. In 2009, Edward held a fund-raising event in which he completed a 12 hour organ marathon, showcasing 12 consecutive themed hours of organ works from transcriptions and major works to improvisations.
As a choral director, Edward specialises in choral workshops for children and youth choirs and 'Come and Sing' events for adult choirs. Edward is Choral Director of the Penrith Singers and Solway Singers in Cumbria. He has conducted many large scale works with orchestra including Ahoy! and Zimbe! by Alexander L'Estrange, Bach’s St John Passion, Handel's Messiah, Haydn’s Creation and Rutter's Requiem and Magnificat. Edward leads Carlisle Cathedrals ‘Singing Out’ programme as Musical Animateur. Through this he provides choral training in Primary Schools throughout Cumbria, working with over 500 children each year culminating in six concerts at the cathedral each year. In 2009 he co-founded the Carlisle Cathedral Children’s Choir, Carlisle Cantate, who perform secular music in concert venues across Cumbria.
Edward has directed the Cathedral's Consort on the televised BBC’s Songs of Praise programme and Radio 4’s Sunday Morning Worship. He has organised and directed the choir on two successful tours to Brittany, France and Mallorca, Spain. Edward also directed the choir in the making of their debut CD "God is Gone Up with a Triumphant Shout" in collaboration with Borders Brass.
Edward has appeared on several CDs, accompanying the Girls’ Choir of Ely Cathedral on the CD "Sing Reign of Fair Maid" on the Regent Label, the Leeds University Liturgical Choir on the CD ''Vox Dei'' in 2006 and sung on numerous CD's as a Chorister of Ely Cathedral with Hyperion and Priory Records. Edward’s debut solo CD, ‘Fantasy on Carlisle’ was released in 2017 with Priory Records on the organ of Carlisle Cathedral. Edward's You Tube channel, which he started during ‘lockdown’ currently has 280 videos of organ music, mainly performed on the cathedral organ in Carlisle (@edwardtaylororganist). Edward's work can be found on Facebook and Instagram, as well as his website.