
CLAIRE HOBBS, organ
Bristol freelance organist
Bach: Prelude and Fugue in E minor BWV 548
Bach: Dies sind die heilgen zehen gebot BWV 678
Kerensa Briggs: Prelude on Pange Lingua
Huw Morgan: Beata Viscera
Duruflé: Prelude et fugue sur le nom d’Alain
Growing up in Cambridge, Claire took organ lessons with David Hill before taking a music degree, as organ scholar at St John’s College, Oxford. She continued her performance study at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she was organ scholar at Manchester Cathedral, and subsequently at the Geneva Conservatoire in Switzerland, completing her studies with a Prix de Virtuosité and the Prix Otto Barblan for Performance. Claire has held positions as Organist of Holy Trinity, Geneva, Assistant Organist at Bristol Cathedral and Organist at Clifton Cathedral in Bristol. Throughout her career she took lessons with François Delor in Geneva and Nicolas Kynaston here in the UK. As an organ teacher, Claire taught on many courses for young organists for the Incorporated Association of Organists and the Royal School of Church Music.
After many years of playing, which included recitals in the UK, Switzerland, South Africa and New Zealand, Claire retrained as a music therapist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Over the last 20 years, she has worked as a therapist in the NHS and education with a wide range of client groups, including mental health and learning disability. She is also an ABRSM examiner, and teaches the piano, on which she also holds the LRAM and ARCM diplomas.
Now based back in Bristol, Claire divides her time between music therapy, playing, examining and teaching.
Admission free – optional retiring collection.