22 Facts About Simon Lindley

Simon Lindley was an English organist, choirmaster, conductor and composer.

Simon Lindley was Organist and Master of the Music at Leeds Minster from 1975 until his retirement in 2016, and Leeds City Organist from 1976 to 2017.

Simon Lindley played organ recitals and recorded with orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic.

Simon Lindley was Senior Lecturer in Music at Leeds Polytechnic and president of the Royal College of Organists, and served as master of music for several choirs and as editor of church music.

Simon Lindley's father Geoffrey Lindley was vicar at St Margaret's Church, Oxford, from 1956 until 1972, and his mother Jeanne, the daughter of Belgian poet and art historian Emile Cammaerts, was a writer and teacher and between 1943 and 1945 a log reader at Bletchley Park.

Simon Lindley served as an organ tutor at the Royal School of Church Music and later as Assistant Master of Music at St Albans Cathedral to Peter Hurford and Director of Music at St Albans School.

Simon Lindley held daily Evensongs with the choir, some of them broadcast by the BBC and Yorkshire Television.

Simon Lindley was City Organist of Leeds from 1976 to 2017.

Simon Lindley programmed works such as Jackson's A Time of Fire.

Simon Lindley was Senior Lecturer in Music at Leeds Polytechnic from 1976 to 1987 and held the post of Senior Assistant Music Officer for Leeds City Council from 1987 to 2011.

From 2009 and 2010 respectively, Simon Lindley held posts as conductor of Sheffield Bach Society and Doncaster Choral Society until stepping down in 2023.

Simon Lindley died on 25 February 2025, at the age of 76.

Simon Lindley was president of the Royal College of Organists from 2000 to 2003, having first served on its council in 1977; he was then its vice-president until his death.

Simon Lindley was president of the Incorporated Association of Organists from 2003 to 2005.

Simon Lindley was Secretary of the Church Music Society from 2001 to 2024, working for the research and publication of critical editions of Renaissance and Restoration music.

Simon Lindley served on the editorial panel for New English Praise, a supplement to The New English Hymnal, and he worked extensively on compilation of the supplement.

Simon Lindley was chairman of the Ecclesiastical Music Trust from 2004 and was Chairman of the Yorkshire College of Music and Drama from 2006 to 2013.

Simon Lindley was in office as Grand Organist to the United Grand Lodge of England from 2010 to 2012 and from 2010 in the Masonic Province of Yorkshire West Riding as Provincial Grand Organist.

Simon Lindley received an honorary doctorate from Leeds Polytechnic in 2001, and a similar distinction from the University of Huddersfield in 2012.

Simon Lindley was the recipient of the "Spirit of Leeds" award from Leeds Civic Trust presented in 2006 and a Leeds Award from Leeds City Council in 2016.

Simon Lindley composed several anthems and organ works, edited choral music and arranged carols.

Simon Lindley recorded as organ soloist with orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic and Northern Sinfonia, with Huddersfield Choral Society, and as accompanist to such musicians as violinists David Greed and Marat Bisengaliev and cornett virtuoso Phillip McCann.