Nigel Ogden


Nigel Ogden is an English theatre organist, known for presenting and performing on the BBC Radio 2 programme The Organist Entertains from 1980 to 2018.
Ogden was born in Manchester, England, the son of a church organist, and had several years of piano lessons, before taking up the organ at the age of twelve. As a child, his family took him to Blackpool Tower Ballroom to hear performances on the Wurlitzer organ there, by Reginald Dixon.
He studied to be a teacher, then worked as a sales demonstrator for an organ retail business in Hyde, Cheshire, where he later started his own business selling organs. From 1972, he started appearing on The Organist Entertains, eventually taking over from Robin Richmond as presenter in March 1980.
Ogden is also a composer and a touring musician, playing both theatre and church organs, and was the organist for the Channel 4 production of Dennis Potter's Lipstick on Your Collar.
For his unique contribution to music, Ogden was awarded with a BASCA Gold Badge of merit on 17 October 2012.
He has released a number of CDs.
After the final episode of The Organist Entertains was broadcast in 2018, Ogden began to present regularly on The Organist Encores podcast.