People

Dr Katharine Pardee, Betts Fellow in Organ Studies

Dr Katharine Pardee is Betts Fellow in Organ Studies at the University of Oxford, Music Lecturer at Corpus Christi College, and Director of Chapel Music at Wadham College. As Betts Fellow, she organises programming and support services for the organ scholars across the University.

Katie earned her undergraduate degree in organ performance from Boston University’s School for the Arts, and followed that with two years on a Fulbright Scholarship to Germany where she studied with Michael Schneider in Cologne, and Nicolas Kynaston in England. She then pursued graduate work in organ performance and literature at the Eastman School of Music in New York, where she received MM and DMA degrees. She also earned a DPhil in Musicology from Oxford, where her research was in Bach in nineteenth-century England.

From 1999-2001, she was interim Assistant Professor of Organ at the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, New York); and prior to that, University Organist and Director of Chapel Music at Syracuse University, NY, where she was also a member of the faculty of the School of Music.

Katie has made two CDs with the Pro Organo label, and has performed widely in the United States, England, and on the continent.

She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Royal College of Organists (RCO), and on the Council of the British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS).

Dr Alex Flood, Mentor

Alex Flood was organ scholar at Jesus College, then St Albans Cathedral, and holds a PhD in composition from King’s College, London, where he studied with Silvina Milstein and George Benjamin. He now plays at St Peter’s Church, St Albans, runs several choirs, and is active as a recitalist, conductor, composer and teacher.

A former pupil of John Wellingham, his organ teaching promotes good organ touch, especially for getting the most out of sensitive tracker action instruments. He is a trustee of the John Wellingham Organ Studies Library based at Jesus College. Alex is available to teach practical organ skills, conducting and rehearsal technique, and also offers diploma paperwork coaching.

Dónal McCann, Mentor

Originally from Belfast, Dónal McCann is currently the Assistant Organist at New College, Oxford where he accompanies the world-famous choir. At New College, Dónal is involved in all aspects of musical life in the college, including teaching and the training of the choristers. Before taking up this post in September 2020 he was organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, where he read music, graduating with a double first. At King’s, he accompanied the choir in daily chapel services, as well as in recordings, broadcasts and tours, including to America and Australia.

Dónal achieved the FRCO diploma with the Limpus prize at the age of 17, and was subsequently awarded the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. The following year he won the inaugural Dame Gillian Weir Medal at the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition. Dónal is also an accomplished pianist, having studied with Anthony Byrne at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, alongside organ studies with Professor Gerard Gillen at St Mary’s Pro Cathedral.

Dónal maintains a busy freelance schedule, having given many recitals around the UK and abroad. He has recently established collaboration with the Oxford Bach Soloists, performing in their inaugural Easter Festival. In recent years has appeared as a guest soloist with the Ulster Orchestra and the Academy of Ancient Music.

Dr Nicholas Prozzillo, Coordinator of Study Trips

Dr Nicholas Prozzillo assists Dr Katharine Pardee in providing study opportunities for Oxford organ scholars. He has an interest in historic organs and their associated repertoires, and has organised study trips to the Continent since 2008.

He hails directly from Swansea and indirectly from Morcone in southern central Italy. He studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Brasenose College, and the Royal College of Music where he completed his MMus with distinction. As a student he had the honour of working with a number of distinguished teachers, including Dame Gillian Weir. He has held scholarships at St Chad’s Cathedral Birmingham, Brasenose College, and at the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court. He was a Junior Fellow at the RCM, an Edison Fellow at the British Sound Archive, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford. He completed his doctorate under the supervision of Laurence Dreyfus and with the guidance of Peter Williams.

Nicholas is now Choir Director of St Giles' Church, Oxford, where he established a musical academy and several new choirs. The Academy includes a new organ school, which at present teaches nearly 20 organists, many of whom are young singers at St Giles'. Nicholas leads an outreach scheme with Viscount Classical Organs Ltd. to install organs in local schools. As an organist, Nicholas has a special interest in the music of J S Bach and the Italian School. In addition, Nicholas teaches the organ and tutors in Keyboard Skills and Techniques of Composition.