Wayne Marshall

Wayne Marshall OBE is a conductor and pianist, and – as in tonight’s appearance – a virtuoso organist, known for his eclectic programmes.

His improvisations on old and new works defy expectations, and our Royal Festival Hall’s 7,866-pipe Harrison & Harrison organ is more than up to the task.

Marshall’s spellbinding interpretations on themes from Bernstein’s ever-popular West Side Story closes a typically wide-ranging recital.

Opening the performance, Andrew Ager’s Toccata & Fugue in C, composed in 2009, grows in complexity as it breaks away from convention.

Roger-Ducasse’s rarely performed masterpiece Pastorale is a favourite of Marshall’s – described by him as a ‘huge, romantic, colourful piece’.

And Schmidt’s magnificent Variations & fugue on King’s Fanfares from Fredigundis is another work that has long been championed by the organist.