Nigel Potts

b. 1972

Nigel Potts was born into a musical family from English grandparents (his grandmother having studied with Herbert Howells at the Royal College of Music in London). He has performed recitals across four continents and extensively across the United States, including distinguished venues in London, Cambridge (UK), Paris, Toronto, New York, Washington DC, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney, as well as in Austria, Iceland, Taiwan, New Zealand and the Bahamas.

As an exponent of orchestral transcriptions, Nigel Potts has recorded an all-transcription program on the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia for WRTI-FM and has performed his orchestral reductions of Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos No.1 & No.2 with pianist Jeremy Filsell. Nigel's latest CD on the MSR label includes his transcriptions of Wagner's Prelude to Act I from Tristan und Isolde, Wagner's Wesendonck-Lieder & Elgar's Sea Pictures with mezzo-soprano, Sarah Rose Taylor & harpist, Grace Cloutier.

A respected champion of 19th & 20th century British organ music, Nigel Potts has performed Percy Whitlock and Edward Elgar concerts celebrating the composers' Centenary and 150th Anniversaries respectively, and was invited to perform the Elgar Organ Sonata at the first ever North American Conference of the Elgar Society. His CDs and recitals have been reviewed favorably by critics around the world and have been broadcast on radio/web stations in various countries including Pipedreams in the USA.

Nigel Potts studied organ with Thomas Murray at Yale University where he graduated with a Master of Music Degree. He also holds diplomas from the Conservatorium of Music in Wellington and Trinity College of Music, London. Whilst living in London he studied Church Music at the Royal Academy of Music, and studied organ with Jeremy Filsell and the late John Scott. A recipient of the Gillian Weir Waitangi Foundation Scholarship, Nigel has held Cathedral Organ Scholarships in New Zealand and England.

Presently Nigel Potts is the Organist & Master of the Music at Grace Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Previously, Nigel was the Organist & Choirmaster of Christ & Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church in New York City where he directed the professional choir, founded the Music at CSS Concert Series and oversaw the installation of the new Schoenstein organ. As a Rotarian, Nigel has given benefit concerts to raise funds for children from developing countries to have critical heart surgeries in New York.