Ben Collyer

Benjamin Collyer (MPerf, ARCO) is the Organ Fellow at Sinfonia Smith Square. He is also the Acting Assistant Director of Music at St Alban’s Cathedral and the Assistant Director of Music at St Michael's, Cornhill. Ben was a student at Chetham's School of Music with Christopher Stokes and Graham Caskie, and then studied Music at the University of Oxford, graduating in 2021. He completed the Masters in Performance course at the Royal College of Music with a distinction in 2023, and has since worked as a freelance organist and collaborative pianist in London and the South East. Ben held Organ Scholarships at St Paul's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and the Royal College of Music, where he was generously supported by the Richard Newton Scarth award. As a recitalist, he has performed in a number of prestigious venues, including Westminster Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral and Southwark Cathedral. Ben is currently the Acting Assistant Director of Music at St Albans Cathedral, where he is the principal organist for cathedral choir services. He is also the Assistant Director of Music and Thalben-Ball Organ Scholar at St Michael’s Cornhill, where he plays weekly for evensong as well as giving regular recitals. In 2024 Ben was appointed as the Organ Fellow with Sinfonia Smith Square (the first post of its kind), where he will be working as an orchestral organist in a variety of projects throughout the 2024/25 season. Recent performances include a performance of Holst's The Planets at the BBC Proms, a tour to Helsinki with the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra, and a solo recital at L’Église Saint Vincent de Carcassonne where he performed a new work written for him by contemporary composer, Francis Pott.