Born in New Zealand, Nigel Potts’ list of performances spans four continents and includes such distinguished venues as Westminster Abbey (London debut aged 21) and St. Paul’s Cathedral, London; Notre Dame Paris; The Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavík, Iceland; Klagenfurt Cathedral, Austria; Washington National Cathedral; The Riverside Church, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and St. Bartholomew's Church, New York City; Woolsey Hall, Yale University; Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; the Town Halls of Wellington & Dunedin, New Zealand; The Hong Kong Cultural Centre and various venues in Australia and Singapore.
An exponent of orchestral transcriptions and a respected champion of 19th & 20th century British organ music, Nigel Potts is admired for his “intuitive grasp of the grand British style…secure technique, idiomatic phrasing and expression” (The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians). He 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 in Dallas. In 2010, Nigel Potts presented a workshop on British Organ Music of the 19th & 20th Centuries at the American Guild of Organists National Convention in Washington DC.
His CDs and recitals have been reviewed favorably by critics around the world and have been broadcast on radio/web stations in Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, on Pipedreams in the USA, and has recorded a program of transcriptions (including his own transcription of Liszt's Liebestraume) on the Wanamaker Organ for Philadelphia's WRTI-FM radio station. His most recent CD release, British Fantasies & Fanfares, (which includes the first ever recording of York Bowen’s complete solo organ works), has been critiqued as “…one of the best, most subtle readings of ‘Nimrod’ from Elgar’s Enigma Variations I’ve ever heard” (The New Mexican), “superbly played…a fine interpretation…a strongly recommended CD” (International Record Review, UK), and “…whose interpretive talent is obvious…an excellent recording” (American Record Guide, Nov/Dec 2009).
An advocate of new music, Nigel Potts is the dedicatee of several organ compositions by the British composer Paul Spicer, including Saraband for any 3rd October (premièred at Westminster Abbey), March for the Retreat of the Governor of Hong Kong (premièred at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre) and Fanfares & Dances. He has also commissioned choral music for his choirs from prominent British and American composers, including the anthem Tu es Pétrus by Paul Spicer; the anthem Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty and the hymn tune Saint Peter’s, Bay Shore by Richard Webster; The Christ & Saint Stephen’s Mass by Robert Lehman, and the anthem Rejoice in the Lord, always by Bruce Neswick.
Nigel Potts studied with Thomas Murray at Yale University and graduated with a Master of Music Degree in 2002. He 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, played for services at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and studied organ with Jeremy Filsell and John Scott. A recipient of the Gillian Weir Waitangi Foundation Scholarship, Nigel Potts has held Organ Scholarships at Wellington Cathedral in New Zealand and at Blackburn and Lichfield Cathedrals in England, where he accompanied the Cathedral Choirs on broadcasts and tours to Australia and Europe.
Presently Nigel Potts is Organist & Choirmaster of Christ & Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church, New York City, where he oversaw the installation of the new Schoenstein organ in 2008. He is a member of the music staff at the Saint Thomas Choir School in New York City; a National Examiner for RSCM America; and a board member of the New York City Chapter of the AGO. As a Rotarian, he has given benefit concerts to raise funds for children from developing countries to have critical heart surgeries in New York.
Nigel Potts is represented by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists.