David Saint
Professor David Saint read music at Hull and Liverpool universities and gained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO) diploma at the age of 20, winning the Turpin Prize for performance. His principal teachers were Alan Spedding and Dame Gillian Weir. After some years as a part time tutor, he was appointed to the full time staff in 1992. David held various roles including Director of the Chamber Choir, Head of Organ Studies, Associate Dean and Vice Principal; he was the Conservatoire's Principal from 2010 until he retired in 2015.
He remains Organist and Director of Music of St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham, a post he has held since 1978, and a member of the Conservatoire's Organ Department staff.
Pursuing a busy concert schedule as a recitalist and also as a choral director, David has performed in venues in the UK, Europe and the USA, including Symphony Hall and Town Hall Birmingham, Ålands Organ Festival (Finland), Sorø Monastery (Denmark), Notre-Dame Paris, Vilnius (Lithuania), the Edinburgh Festival, Blois Cathedral (France), Munster Lambertikirche (Germany) and at both the Sankt Wendel Festival and the Orgelfestival Völklingen-Forbach in the Saarland. As a committed educationalist, he continues to work as a consultant and examiner. David was a trustee of the Royal College of Organists from 2005 to 2013 and is now Executive Vice President of the Incorporated Association of Organists.
In June 2012, David was awarded Fellowship of the Royal School of Church Music (FRSCM) in recognition of his services to church music; and in 2015 he was awarded Fellowship of Birmingham Conservatoire and became an Emeritus Professor of Birmingham City University.