James McVinnie

James McVinnie is an English organist.He was born in Kent and lives in London.McVinnie was Assistant Organist at Westminster Abbey between 2008-2011 where he played for regular services and also at many important state occasions that were broadcast on TV around the globe, including the state visit of Pope Benedict XVI, the Passing of the World War I Generation, and the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.He previously held posts at St Paul's Cathedral, Clare College Cambridge, and St Albans Cathedral Since leaving the world of cathedral music, McVinnie has regularly collaborated with leading artists across a broad range of contemporary musical contexts; including composer Nico Muhly, violist Nadia Sirota, composer/producer Valgeir Sigurðsson, Sufjan Stevens, Sam Amidon, Oneohtrix Point Never, Beth Orton, Bryce Dessner, and Ben Frost.He made his debut at London’s Royal Festival Hall in March 2014, giving one of the six reopening recitals on the refurbished iconic 1954 Harrison & Harrison organ.Many composers have written works for him, including Nico Muhly, Martin Creed, Graham Ross, Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire), Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond), and David Lang (winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in music).In 2009 McVinnie made his solo debut at the Salzburg Festival with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under Ivor Bolton, at which he played Handel's Op 7 no 5 organ concerto on stage during a production of Handel's Theodora, directed by Christof Loy. McVinnie released his debut album Cycles in 2013, on the Bedroom Community label.On 3 February 2017, a Cycles remix album was announced, Cycles_1, featuring remixes from Sam Slater, Matt Huxley, Scanner, Talos, Paul Evans, Liam Byrne, and Alex Groves.