Image of Organist playing the organ
Credit: Patricia Boulhosa

Choir staff and Organ Scholars

Director of Music - Benjamin Sheen

Benjamin Sheen was appointed Director of Music at Jesus College Cambridge in 2023. Prior to moving to Cambridge, he was Sub-Organist at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and organ tutor at the University of Oxford. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford and the Juilliard School in New York and spent eight years as the Associate Organist of the famed Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue in New York City. As a concert organist, he has gained international recognition on both sides of the Atlantic and further afield in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Read Benjamin's full biography.

Tel: +44 (0)1223 339474

Email: director-of-music@jesus.cam.ac.uk

Chapel and Choir Office Coordinator – Eleanor Lancelot

You can contact the Chapel and Choir Office Coordinator about concerts and the choirs.

Tel: +44 (0)1223 339699

Email: choir@jesus.cam.ac.uk

Senior Organ Scholar – Michael D'Avanzo

Michael was a chorister at Hereford Cathedral until 2015, when he took up the organ, studying with Geraint Bowen. In 2020, he was appointed Organ Scholar at St Davids Cathedral, singing for several BBC Radio broadcasts as well as regularly accompanying the choirs. He then moved to Southwell Minster as Organ Scholar, where he was involved in the Minster’s education and music outreach programmes as well as working closely with the choristers. In Southwell, he also performed alongside the Musical and Amicable Society for the Minster Chorale’s annual Messiah concert.

Michael’s solo performances have included recitals in cathedrals and churches across the country as well as a performance of Handel’s 13th Organ Concerto alongside Music for a While.

Michael is now in his second year at Cambridge, reading for a degree in Music.

Email: choir@jesus.cam.ac.uk

Junior Organ Scholar – Miriam Reveley 

Miriam is in her first year at the University of Cambridge reading for a degree in Music. She began her musical career as a Chorister at Ely Cathedral in 2016, where she began learning the organ in 2017 with Sarah MacDonald. She was appointed Sixth Form Organ Scholar at Ely in 2019, and Assisting Organist in 2022. Miriam passed her FRCO diploma in July 2022, winning the coveted Limpus prize for her playing exam, under the tuition of Daniel Moult. Before University, Miriam spent her gap year as Organ Scholar at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, where she played for the Committal Service of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Miriam balances her studies with a busy recital schedule, which has included performing in prestigious venues such as Westminster Abbey, St Albans Abbey, and the Three Choirs Festival. Miriam was also a finalist in the 2023 Northern Ireland International Organ Competition. She is currently taught by Ann Elise Smoot.

Email: choir@jesus.cam.ac.uk

Former Directors of Music

Former Organ Scholars

1998 Timothy Byram-Wigfield

2003 Daniel Hyde

2009 Mark Williams

2017 Richard Pinel

1919 Adrian Edgar Lucius Burr

1924 John Gerald Hall

1929 Joseph Weston Poole

1929 Thomas Quibell

1932 Vernon Harcourt Rhodes

1938 Hilary Clifton Kelynack

1946 James Donald Cox

1946 Eric William Copperwheat

1948 Peter Hurford

1952 Richard Lloyd

1954 Peter Gay Fletcher

1957 John Rosser Turner

1960 Michael Burnett

1963 David Sheeran Butterworth

1967 Robert Ernest Walker

1968 Michael Baker

1968 Terence Albright

1971 Julian Couzens

1972 Malcolm Archer

1975 James Robert Sydney Wrightson

1977 Henry Roderick Shaw

1978 Paul M. Ellison (Assistant Organist)

1979 James A. O’Donnell

1981 Stephen P.A. Young

1982 Geraint Bowen

1984 Christopher Argent

1985 David Swinson

1987 Andrew David King

1989 Timothy Horton

1990 Daniel Phillips

1992 Charles Harrison

1993 Duncan Aspden

1995 Gregory Morris

1996 Julian Thomas

1998 Thomas Corns

1999 Anthony Smith

2001 Samuel Gladstone

2002 James Kennerley

2004 David Humphreys

2005 Samuel Hanson

2008 Thomas Chatterton

(Assistant Organist)

2008 Timothy Lambourn

2010 Robert George Dixon

2011 Benjamin Morris

2013 Bertie Baigent

2015 Jordan Wong

2016 Dewi Rees

2018 Jason Richards

2020 Luke Fitzgerald (Assistant Organist)

2020 Drew Sellis

2020 Christopher Too

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