Andrew Nethsingha


Andrew Nethsingha, FRCO, ARCM is an English choral conductor and organist, the son of Lucian Nethsingha also a cathedral organist. He is the Director of Music at St John's College, Cambridge, where he was previously the Organ Scholar. He was also the President of the Cathedral Organists' Association. He has performed in the UK, North America, South Africa, China and many European countries.

Career

His early musical training was as a chorister in Exeter Cathedral, where his father Lucian Nethsingha was Organist for over quarter of a century. He was a music scholar at Clifton College in Bristol where he studied with Gwilym Isaacs before gaining his organ scholarship to St John's Cambridge. He later studied at the Royal College of Music, where he won seven prizes, and at St John's College, Cambridge. He has held Organ Scholarships under Dr Christopher Robinson at St George's Chapel, Windsor and Dr George Guest, both of whom were Organist and Director of Music at St John's College. Having held the post of assistant organist at Wells Cathedral, in 1994 Nethsingha had eight years as Master of the Choristers and Organist at Truro Cathedral, becoming the youngest cathedral organist in the country. During this period the reputation of the choir increased considerably. He succeeded David Briggs at Gloucester Cathedral in 2002, and also held the artistic directorship of the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival and the conductorship of Gloucester Choral Society.
He has worked regularly with some of the UK's leading orchestras. Performances with the Philharmonia have included Britten War Requiem, Mahler Symphony No. 8 and Elgar The Kingdom as well as a programme of Vaughan Williams and Finzi broadcast on BBC Radio 3. His most recent performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have included Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Gershwin An American in Paris and Elgar Sea Pictures. He has also worked with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and BBC Concert Orchestra and conducted a performance of Handel's Messiah in Beijing.

Personal life

His wife, Lucy Nethsingha, is a Liberal Democrat politician, who has been a Member of the European Parliament for the East of England since 2019. They married in 1996.

Recordings