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A life of music…

The youngest of five children,  D’Arcy Trinkwon comes from a family of South American and French ancestry. Never interested in the customary childhood pursuits, he demonstrated a prodigious and obsessive talent for painting and the graphic arts from the earliest age, something accompanied by his continual singing. Although he began piano lessons at the age of four, he was reluctant to practise - frequently even refusing to play in lessons to the despair of all…

As a result of his singing, he became a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral under Allan Wicks, and inevitably the organ there soon began to fascinate him. The decisive moment came when he was 12 and heard Liszt’s Fantasia & Fugue on Ad nos: after that one experience he realised his musical vocation - he had to play the organ because he had to play that work. From that moment he began to practise and research about the organ and its music feverishly to the exclusion of all other interests.

During his teenage years he studied organ with H. A. Bate at St James’, Muswell Hill, London, before entering the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, where he studied both piano and organ. Further studies with Jean Guillou and Odile Pierre in Paris followed, where he won the Gold Medal of the National Conservatoire. Thus he completed his studies with Marcel Dupre’s last two ‘formal’ students, a musical lineage which had longsince fascinated him.

From then on he set out on a musical voyage of discovery of his own, his development fuelled by detailed study and observation of the great musicians of all disciplines and eras (particularly pianists). In-depth research and study of historical and archive material was a natural discourse,  and he worked feverishly on the study and application of technique.

Always someone on the outside of the traditional paths of the organist’s profession and only ever drawn to the organ as a concert instrument, he made his debut in Zürich in 1988, Paris in 1989, and London in 1991, and gradually began to build his international career.  Performing with uncommon élan and colour, revelling in the kaleidoscopic nature of the organ and the dramatic possibilities it allowed. However, his free spirit, unique and colourful approach was viewed with suspicion by the establishment – much of which was openly obstructive and hostile.

Today, he is today recognised as one of the outstandingly gifted virtuosos of his generation, known for his consummate mastery of the organ. Preferring the magic and spontaneity of ‘live’ music, his reputation has been established almost entirely through concert performances, as, unlike the majority of his peers, he has not shown much interest in recording. He devotes himself exclusively to concerts, study, and teaching, and seeks above all to show that the organ is an emotionally expressive and poetic instrument.

A musician of scholarship, he commands one of the most extensive repertoires of any artist before the public, performing all the instrument’s masterpieces with equal passion and authority. His interpretations -  meticulously considered with reference to historical treatises - display an acute stylistic awareness: however, disliking academic rigidity, he gives them free reign to ‘live’. Particularly he is known for his transcendental performances of the most demanding virtuoso works.

Highlights in his career have included the celebrity series in cathedrals, concert halls and churches worldwide, including Notre-Dame (Paris), Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral’s Grand Organ Festival, St Paul’s Cathedral Celebrity Concerts, and Festival recitals have included City of London Festival, Salzburg Internationale Konzerte, the Festival Permanente de Buenos Aires, Bonn Reger Internationale Tagen, Festival Internacional del Uruguay, Sens International Organ Festival, Le Chemin d’Orgue (Troyes), the Olomouc International Organ Festival, etc.

He has also performed several solo concert series – including The King of Instruments (8 concerts featuring representing works of the ‘cornerstone’ organ composers),  The English Romantic Organist, the complete Widor symphonies etc. Devoted to the music of Bach, he has given numerous all-Bach programmes and solo siries: he has also variously presented a more unusual programme - The Dark Side of the Moon - featuring organ music inspired by possession, myth, legend and superstition.

PolyGram UK sponsored him to present the Hammersmith Organ Festival (1994-1997) – one of London’s most successful recital series of the time - which attracted many new enthusiasts to the instrument. For four consecutive years he was invited to give a “Concert Spirituel” as part of Holy Week at St Paul’s Cathedral: his performance of Dupré’s Stations of the Cross this year marks his fifth such performance there.

2008 included many concerts celebrating the centenary of Olivier Messiaen and the 40^th anniversary of the death of Jeanne Demessieux (1921-1968). Among his European engagements were his 9^th and 10^th recitals in Salzburg, and the premier of his transcription of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition: his performances of Bach on the historic organ in Kongsberg were described as ‘a revelation’. He has performed in France every year since 1989 – the only British organist to do so.

Since his earliest interest in the organ he has had a particular personal interest in the legendary doyenne of organists Jeanne Demessieux, and his numerous performances of her music – especially the complete Six Etudes - have received exceptional acclaim. One of the foremost authorities on her life and work, he has contributed several articles to various journals – most recently Organists Review (UK) and The Diapason (USA). He is Vice-President of Les Amis de Jeanne Demessieux.

Away from the organ and its world, D’Arcy is pursues active interests and study in the arts and the psychic disciplines. He has also studied Baroque dance.