Join us at Coventry Cathedral for our popular Monday Lunchtime Organ Recitals, running from May to September 2026. These free, half‑hour concerts (12.30–1.00pm) offer a perfect midday pause, showcasing the magnificent cathedral organ played by distinguished guest organists from across the UK and beyond. Each week brings a fresh and varied programme, from much‑loved classics to contemporary and newly composed works, performed in the inspiring surroundings of this iconic building. All are warmly welcome.
29th June - Richard Lea (Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral)
Richard Lea is Organist at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool.
He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and Christ’s and Notre Dame College in Liverpool; and was Organ Scholar at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral studying with Noel Rawsthorne, Terence Duffy and Philip Duffy.
He was then Organist at the Church of St. Oswald and St Edmund Arrowsmith, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire. He was appointed Organist at the Cathedral in 1999 working with Mervyn Cousins, Keith Orrell, Terence Duffy, Timothy Noon and Christopher McElroy. He has directed various ensembles including Wigan Choral Society, the Brixi Singers, and the Metropolitan Cathedral Cantata Choir. From 2016-2018 he was Organist at Buckfast Abbey, Devon, where a superb new organ by Fratelli Ruffatti has been installed.
He has made numerous broadcasts and has recorded three discs of the music of Lefébure Wély (featured in BBC Radio 2’s The Organist Entertains); the complete organ works of the Welsh composer William Mathias, the World Premiere recording of Sir John Tavener’s Requiem (on EMI with the RLPO and Choir conducted by Vasily Petrenko), and most recently, the complete organ music of Dom Sebastian Wolff, recorded at Buckfast Abbey in 2021, described as “priceless” (Gramophone).
Reviews include, “it is Richard Lea’s superb playing that steals the show” (Organists’ Review);“really first rate playing”; “masterful” (Gramophone); “Here is music and playing that will lift your spirits” (American Organist); “the performances are brilliant…and genuinely moving” (International Record Review); “exemplary performances – 5 stars” (Orgelnieuws).
He has also released a DVD, receiving great reviews: “Bravado performances”; “This is one of the most outstanding instrumental releases on DVD this year” (International Record Review); “Virtuosic and riveting”; “Highly recommended” (Organists’ Review).
Programme of Music:
Cortège La Reine de Saba - Gounod
Pastoral Interlude - Trustam
Saga VI Icarus - Guillou
Naïades - Vierne
Toccata Magnificat - Davies
Serenade - Bourgeois
Overture Zampa - Hérold
For the full list of Monday Lunchtime Organ Recitals 2026 please click below:
