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Robert Costin

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Robert Costin is a British organist, harpsichordist and music educator. He has held musical and teaching appointments in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, Thailand and the United States, and has performed internationally as a recitalist and recording artist.

Life and career

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Costin began his musical career as a chorister at Peterborough Cathedral and later became a music scholar at Oundle School. He studied organ and harpsichord at the Royal Academy of Music from 1989 to 1990 and was Organ Scholar of Pembroke College, Cambridge, from 1990 to 1993. In 1990, aged nineteen, he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO). In 2025, he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in recognition of his services to music.[1]

After graduating from Cambridge, Costin served as Assistant Director of Music at Wellington Cathedral of St Paul. He subsequently served as interim Director of Music at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland, and as Assistant Director of Music at Blackburn Cathedral.[2]

His teaching appointments have included positions at Worksop College, Bedford School, Ardingly College, Highgate School, St Paul's Cathedral School, St Louis School in Milan, Rugby School Thailand, Sherborne School and Saint Mary's School in Raleigh, North Carolina.

As a performer, Costin has appeared in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America.[3][4][5]

Recordings

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Costin's recordings have focused particularly on the organ and keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach. He has also recorded works by Herbert Howells, Franz Liszt, Julius Reubke, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn.

His recording of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, performed on the Metzler organ of Trinity College, Cambridge, was reviewed in Gramophone.[6] His recording of The Art of Fugue, made on the same instrument, received a five-star review in Choir & Organ.[7]

Discography

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  • Organ Triumphant (Kiwi Pacific Records)
  • Howells: Organ Music (Atoll Records)[8]
  • The Excellent Art of Voluntary (Atoll Records)
  • Liszt and Reubke: Organ Works (Atoll Records)[9]
  • Bach: Goldberg Variations (Stone Records)[10]
  • Bach: Trio Sonatas (Stone Records)
  • Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (Stone Records)[11]
  • The Classical Organ: Music by C. P. E. Bach, Mozart and Haydn (First Hand Records)
  • Bach: The Art of Fugue (First Hand Records)

References

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  1. ↑ "The Royal Academy of Music Announces Associate Honours 2024–2025". 13 February 2025. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  2. ↑ "Recital Review, Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York". 6 April 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "Recital Review, Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York". 6 April 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  4. ↑ "World renowned organist goes back to roots". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  5. ↑ "Concert Review: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Auckland Town Hall". The New Zealand Herald. 15 April 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  6. ↑ "J.S. Bach: Das Wohltemperirte Clavier". Gramophone. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  7. ↑ "J.S. Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), BWV 1080". Choir & Organ. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  8. ↑ "From organ to orchestra: one producer's exciting search for sonic thrills". The New Zealand Herald. July 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  9. ↑ "Liszt and Reubke Organ Works review". MusicWeb International. May 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Album review: Robert Costin, Bach: Goldberg Variations". The Independent. August 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  11. ↑ "A Labour of Love". Radio New Zealand. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
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