Organist: Graham Blyth

Continuing the tradition of presenting organ recitals during AES conventions since 1993, Graham Blyth, renowned organist and technical director of Soundcraft, performed works by Bach, Franck, Guilmant, and Vierne on the gallery organ of Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

The gallery organ, built by George Kilgen & Son, contains 7,855 pipes ranging in length from thirty-two feet to one-half inch. The longest pipes run horizontally across the north and south triforia. The organ is electrically powered and contains 56 miles of electric wire. It is controlled by five keyboards.

Graham Blyth received his early musical training as a Junior Exhibitioner at Trinity College of Music in London, England. Subsequently at Bristol University, he took up conducting, performing Bach's St. Matthew Passion before he was 21. He holds diplomas in Organ Performance from the Royal College of Organists, The Royal College of Music, and the Trinity College of Music. In the late 1980s he renewed his studies with Sulemita Aronowsky for piano and with Robert Munns for organ.

Mr. Blyth made his international debut with an organ recital at St. Thomas Church, New York, in 1993, and since then has played in San Francisco (Grace Cathedral), Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, and Paris (Madeleine Church). He gives numerous concerts each year, principally as an organist and a pianist, but also as a conductor and a harpsichord player.

Mr. Blyth is founder and technical director of Soundcraft. He divides his time between his main career as a designer of professional audio equipment and organ-related activities. He has lived in Wantage, Oxfordshire, U.K., since 1984, where he is currently artistic director of the Wantage Chamber Concerts and director of the Wantage Festival of Arts. He is also founder and conductor of the Challow Chamber Singers & Players. He is involved with Musicom Ltd., a British company at the leading edge of the pipe organ control system and digital pipe synthesis design. He also acts as tonal consultant to the Saville Organ Company and is recognized as one of the leading voicers of digital pipe modeling systems.