Stuart Forster

Stuart Forster has been Director of Music and Organist at Christ Church, the Episcopal Church in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, since 1999. His performances as soloist, accompanist, and conductor have been broadcast around the world, and he has recorded numerous CDs, including solo performances on the JAV and Pro Organo labels. His book, Hymn Playing: A Modern Colloquium, draws on interviews with leading church musicians to document expert techniques of hymn leadership and accompaniment with the organ. Dr. Forster has written orchestral transcriptions for the organ, liturgical music for congregations (including more than 100 hymn arrangements), and choral anthems. His landmark organ transcription of Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony, “From the New World,” has been published and recorded, and it is frequently performed. Dr. Forster holds qualifications from Trinity College of Music (London), the University of Sydney, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Yale University, and the Graduate Theological Foundation, where his doctorate focused on the congregation’s experience of flow and music within liturgy. A dedicated organist and choir trainer, Dr. Forster’s passion for leading congregational singing has guided his vocation both in the church and as a teacher.