Gloucester Cathedral

A teenager playing music late at night loud enough to be heard by his neighbours might not seem very unusual. But for 18-year old Robert Dixon, the music is played on the magnificent organ of Gloucester Cathedral and the after-hours sessions are in preparation for his upcoming solo recital.

Robert is spending the year as Organ Scholar at Gloucester Cathedral where his duties include accompanying the choir at Evensong, occasional conducting, training probationers and organising the music library. He will perform his first recital at the Cathedral in a lunchtime concert on Thursday 25 March at 12.30pm and another concert in June, before taking part in the historic Three Choirs Festival in August, which he admits will be the biggest of his career to date. “I am very excited by the opportunity, but I am quite nervous too,” he said.

Robert’s March recital programme is: Suite Gothique Op. 25 by Léon Boëllmann, Prelude and Fugue in G bwv 550 by J S Bach, Choral No. 3 in A minor by César Franck and Paean by Herbert Howells. He describes the Boëllmann piece as “loud and crowd-pleasing” and the ideal piece to show off the organ’s distinctively French sound.

In September, Robert will study Theology at Jesus College, Cambridge where he will also take up the post of Organ Scholar.

Admission to the lunchtime recital is free with a retiring collection.