David Goode is one of the UK’s leading organists, with a diverse portfolio of concerts, teaching and composition. 

​

He was a music scholar at Eton College and then organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge from 1991-4, graduating with a first and the MPhil degree. He studied the organ with David Sanger and in Holland with Jacques van Oortmerssen. From 1996-2001 he was Sub-Organist at Christ Church, Oxford; and after winning the top prizes awarded at the 1997 St Alban’s Interpretation Competition, and the Recital Gold Medal at the 1998 Calgary Competition, he concentrated on a freelance career between 2001 and 2003. From 2003-2005, he combined this with the post of Organist-in-Residence at First Congregational Church, Los Angeles, home to the world’s largest church organ; and from 2005-2022 he was Organist at Eton College, where he taught many of the UK’s most talented young organists.

​

In 1999 he made the first of many appearances at the BBC Proms: he gave a solo recital in 2006 and was a Featured Artist in 2011. In 2002 he made his RFH and Symphony Hall debuts, and has played at both several times. He has toured widely in Europe, North America, Australia and the Far East, and has forged a strong link in the UK with the BBCNOW and the BBC Singers. He also has a partnership with trumpeter Alison Balsom; concerts include the Moscow Arts, Passau Festivals, and the Organ Gala Launch at the Royal Festival Hall in March 2014. In 2016, he performed at the National Convention of the AGO, and has returned to the US twice since then. More recent concerts have included Freiberg Dom in Germany, the Beaminster Festival and St John’s, Smith Square, as well as a recording of works by John Pickard for BIS; concerts in 2023 include visits to Dublin and Scotland, a Bach lecture-recital in Marlow, and a recording of Mozart’s organ works for Signum.

​

He has long been in demand as a teacher, and was on the jury for the St Albans International Organ Festival in 2017. In recent years he has composed a number of choral and organ works, including a collaboration with the poet Francis Warner; performances include those by the choirs of King’s and St. John’s Colleges, Cambridge. In September 2013 the Bach Choir and RPO under David Hill gave the premiere of his Blitz Requiem in St. Paul’s Cathedral, and his anthem, Holy is the true light, was premiered in July 2022.His Violin Sonata will be premiered in July 2023.

​

Since his first solo CD, ‘French Showpieces from King’s’ in 1994, his recordings have consistently received critical acclaim. Of his 2004 release from Los Angeles, ‘The Great Organs of First Church vol. 2’, The American Organist said ‘David Goode shows a fearless command of one of the world’s largest church organs.’ 2004 also saw the first release of works by Max Reger (‘Finally, there’s a set…that competes with Germani’s 1960’s HMV recordings – I thought the day would never come’, Choir and Organ); further sets appeared in 2013 and 2015. His recording of the complete organ works of Bach from Trinity College, Cambridge was released on the Signum label in 2019, followed by live broadcasts of Bach on BBC Radio 3 from Oxford and Cambridge. Gramophone said: ‘David Goode continues to delight and edify in equal measure …. this series is notable for the flair, clarity and spontaneity that Goode brings to this timeless music’. His account of the Orgelbüchlein was rated as ‘Best Recording’ of the piece by Classical Music magazine.

​

​