French organ music through the centuries

Professor Andrew Morrisson

Andrew Morrisson was educated at Brentwood School in Essex, where he studied organ with Dr Edgar Brice from the Royal Academy of Music, and at Imperial College London, where he studied chemistry. Following a move to Aberdeen to study for a PhD at the Macaulay Institute, he was appointed Assistant Organist at St Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen and then Organist and Master of the Choristers in 1983, succeeding Geoffrey Pearce. 

For over 35 years he combined an academic career in chemistry with directing the Cathedral Choir in up to four choral services a week. Professor Morrisson has conducted the St Andrew’s Cathedral Choir in numerous radio and television broadcasts and has made a number of recordings, including a solo organ CD to mark 21 years tenure at the Cathedral. He has conducted the Cathedral Choir in over 30 of the major churches in the United Kingdom, including St Paul’s Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and York Minster as well as tours to the United States and Europe. 

In 2019, he was awarded the Associateship of the Royal School of Church Music (ARSCM) in recognition of his 35 years’ service as Director of Music at St Andrew’s Cathedral and his wider contribution to church music in Scotland. This was followed by the award of an honorary DMus from the University of Aberdeen. In April 2023, he was presented with the Royal Maundy in York Minster by King Charles III and in 2024, was made a Member of the Order of St John at Dunfermline Abbey. He is now retired and is living back in Essex but still travels to Aberdeen a number of times a year to support the music at the Cathedral where he is Emeritus Director of Music.