Henry Fairs is Head of Organ Studies at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Organist to the University of Birmingham; he combines this with a recital career that takes him to many parts of the world.

Since winning First Prize in the Odense International Organ Competition he has performed in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland and the United States. His orchestral concerto début was with the Paris Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra in 2004 playing Jean Guillou’s 6th Concerto. His schedule for 2009 includes a Messiaen recital at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, a live broadcast of Poulenc’s organ concerto for Danish Radio from the Carl Nielsen Hall, Odense, and a recital at Worms Cathedral, Germany, which opens the Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz.

Born in Hereford (England), he received his earliest musical training as a chorister at Leominster Priory. After graduating with First Class Honours from the Birmingham Conservatoire and gaining the Fellowship diploma of the Royal College of Organists with the Turpin and Durrant Prize, a bursary from the Countess of Munster Trust enabled study with Susan Landale at the Conservatoire Nationale de Région Rueil-Malmaison in France where in 1999 he won the Premier Prix d’Exellence à l’unanimité du jury. He then undertook further studies in Germany with Thierry Mechler at the Hochschule für Musik, Köln (Konzertexamen) and in England with David Sanger.

Recent projects include recording a disc of Duruflé’s complete organ music for Naxos, a performance of the complete organ works of Messiaen in a series of six concerts for the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham and a broadcast recital for Bayerischer Rundfunk from the Internationale Orgelwoche in Nuremberg. Henry enjoys playing a broad, eclectic repertoire and is in increasing demand as a teacher. In recent years he has been a guest tutor on courses for the Royal College of Organists, Oundle for Organists and the Eton Choral Course.