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Richard Tanner has been Organist and Director of Music at Blackburn Cathedral since June 1998 and conductor of the Renaissance Singers since September 1998. At Blackburn he has led a music programme which has grown considerably under his leadership. There are currently around 170 singers involved in music making at the Cathedral.
As well as championing the work of the historic Cathedral Choir of boys and men and supporting the work of the Young People's Choir, Richard has developed singing opportunities for girls, and for children aged 5-8. He has founded The Friends of Blackburn Cathedral Music, presided over the restoration and enlargement of the world class Cathedral Organ, started an education programme for the local community and expanded the number of concerts held at the Cathedral, particularly performances of great choral works using the choirs of Blackburn Cathedral and leading orchestras from the North West. There have been a number of radio and television broadcasts featuring the choirs of the Cathedral and many commercial recordings have been made in the Cathedral.
As well as leading one of the busiest and most wide ranging musical programmes in any English Cathedral, Richard also enjoys an exciting freelance career. He is in increasing demand as a conductor and works regularly with Manchester Chamber Choir and Northern Chamber Orchestra. Future concerts include Mozart Requiem/Mozart Piano Concerto 27 with Martin Roscoe and NCO, the world premiere of David Briggs' Organ Concerto with NCO and a Gala Concert for the Prince's Trust with Aled Jones and Lancashire Sinfonietta. As a record producer he has worked on over thirty discs with some of the leading organists, choirs and conductors in the UK; recordings in 2006 include working as producer for Winchester, Salisbury, St Albans and St Paul's Cathedral Choirs as well as Yorkshire Bach Choir. As an organist, he is busy as a recitalist and also enjoys giving concerts with his wife, the soprano Philippa Hyde, in the UK and further afield. Richard is a regular Musical Director and Organist on BBC Radio 4s Daily Service and he has also worked on BBC TVs Songs of Praise as Conductor, Organist, Arranger and Musical Adviser on a number of occasions. In the coming months he will be directing the music for BBC Radio 4s Ascension Day Service (from St Martin-in-the-fields) and Pentecost (from Blackburn). Richard has recently formed Euphony, a professional choir comprising professional singers from the North of England, with whom he recorded David Briggs' Requiem in November 2005; the CD also features The Northern Chamber Orchestra and includes David Briggs' Organ Concerto, written for the organ of Blackburn Cathedral.
Richard was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral, student at the Royal Academy of Music, and organ scholar of Exeter College, Oxford and St Albans Cathedral. Immediately before moving to Blackburn he spent five years as Director of Music at All Saints Church, Northampton.
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