Irish-born concert organist who studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve. He has won a number of prestigious awards and has gained an international reputation.
Colm Carey is one of a handful of distinctive concert organists who has set out to promote the instrument in a fresh way, widening its appeal through imaginative programming and stimulating outreach work.
That he has emerged as a respected and acclaimed performer is testimony to his single-minded mission not only to champion the instrument’s remarkable breadth of repertoire but also to devise performing and recording projects involving exciting collaborations with other musicians.
It is on the concert platform and in the recording studio that Colm Carey continues to find new audiences for the instrument. As co-founder and Artistic Director of the London Organ Summer Course and as Professor of Organ at London’s Trinity College of Music, Colm Carey has undertaken a variety of outreach work with younger performers. This extension of his busy performing life characterises his work as Belfast’s recently appointed City Organist where his many concert activities run alongside educational events for the local community.
Born and brought up in Ireland, Colm Carey’s studies with Nicholas Danby and David Titterington at London’s Royal Academy of Music led to him winning the prestigious Julius Isserlis Scholarship in 1995—the first time that it had been awarded to an organist—and this enabled him to study for two years with Lionel Rogg at the Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve. Winning top-performing awards with distinction at both institutions, Colm Carey’s numerous appearances, both live and recorded, in the UK and Ireland formed the strong foundations for his subsequent solo performances in Europe, Australia, Canada and the USA. Acclaimed as a sensitive and thoughtful musician, he continues to perform widely on platforms throughout the world.
A leading concert organist, Colm Carey offers a blend of fresh invention and technical finesse, establishing him as a remarkable and distinctive performer. Born in Ireland, the son of the late Dean of Cork, Carey studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Nicholas Danby and David Titterington, where he read for a University of London BMus. He also gained the Dip.RAM, the Academy’s highest performance award, and later became Meaker Fellow. As winner of the prestigious Julius Isserlis Scholarship, he went on to study at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève with Lionel Rogg, where he won the ‘Premier Prix de Virtuosité avec Distinction’ on completion of his course. He subsequently won the Audience Prize at the St. Albans International Competition.
Since then Colm has performed in France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Canada, the USA, Australia and throughout Britain and Ireland. His repertoire embraces all the major traditions, from the French Classical School and the German Baroque to the great symphonic tradition of the nineteenth century, and as a keen exponent of contemporary music he has given first performances of new works by Lionel Rogg, Roderick Williams, Ruth Byrchmore and Andrew Johnstone.