Organ: David Bednall

David Bednall is a student of Dr. Naji Hakim and David Briggs, and is currently Assistant Organist at Wells Cathedral. He has been at Wells since 2002 when he was appointed Sub Organist under Malcolm Archer. As well as the daily services he has accompanied the choirs for concerts and on radio and television broadcasts. He has also made a number of recordings with the Cathedral Choir and Chamber Choir on the Hyperion, Regent, Lammas and Priory labels.

He was born in 1979 and studied in Sherborne and then at The Queen's College, Oxford where he was Organ Scholar. In 2000 the Chapel Choir toured Paris under his direction, singing at Notre Dame and other venues, and released a live concert CD.

In 2000 he was appointed Organ Scholar at Gloucester Cathedral under David Briggs and Ian Ball. While there he spent periods as Acting Director of Music and Acting Assistant Organist, was closely involved in the Three Choirs Festival, and was involved in two recordings - as Director on Lux Aeterna with the Cathedral Choir, and as Accompanist on the critically acclaimed Comfort and Joy with the Saint Cecilia Singers.

He was a prize-winner in Improvisation and Performance at the examination for Fellow of The Royal College of Organists in 2002, and has given recitals at L'Église de La Trinité, Paris, Westminster, St Paul's, and many other cathedrals. Additional engagements have included recitals at Westminster Abbey, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and various performances of Vierne - Symphonies IV and V.

He has performed all the major works of Olivier Messiaen as part of the Liturgical Year, including the cycles Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité and Livre du Saint Sacrament. His debut solo CD for Lammas of Hakim, Messiaen and Vierne at Blackburn Cathedral, and CD of liturgical improvisations with Malcolm Archer, have both received excellent critical reviews. The latter is a particular interest of his and he has improvised in concert and on live radio broadcasts. Other activities have included performances of the music of James Macmillan in the Bath Festival with the Bath Festival Chorus conducted by the composer, acting as organist for the Exons Singers and performing in the Jean Langlais Festival in Brittany. He is Director of Cantilena choir, and is in demand as a pianist. In this capacity he has appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival accompanying Britten - Canticles II, III and IV and recorded a CD of the songs of Michael Head with the tenor Richard Rowntree for Lammas.

He is increasingly active as a composer and the Choir of Wells Cathedral has recorded a CD of his choral music for Regent Records and broadcast a number of works on Radio 4. Recent work has included a critically acclaimed commission for the Youth Choirs of Blackburn and Carlisle Cathedrals, a Gregorian Alternatim Mass for Douai Abbey and a work for All Saints' Church, Northampton premiered at the 2006 Jean Langlais Festival in Brittany.