British organist, Henry Fairs combines positions at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, universities of Birmingham and St Andrews (UK) and the Musikhochschule Leipzig (Germany) with a recital career. He has won ten prizes in international organ competitions, including the Prix Maurice Duruflé, Chartres; Concerto Gold Medal, Paris; First Prize & Special Prize, Odense. Henry has appeared in festivals throughout Europe and in North America, Canada, Russia and Japan, performing solo recitals, broadcasts (BBC, BR, MDR, Danish Radio) and concertos on both historic and modern instruments. He is regularly invited to serve as a jury member (Odense and Wadden Sea competitions, Denmark; Silbermann Wettbewerb, Germany), examiner, guest tutor and speaker. His students include a number of prize-winners in international competitions.
Born in Hereford in 1976, Henry received his earliest musical training as a chorister at Leominster Priory and studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire, where he graduated with First Class Honours and was a prize-winner at the Fellowship diploma of the Royal College of Organists. A scholarship from the Countess of Munster Trust enabled postgraduate studies in Paris, Cologne and Vienna. Important teachers and influences have included David Saint, Susan Landale, Thierry Mechler, David Sanger and Michael Radulescu. He enjoys playing and teaching a broad, eclectic repertory:currently with a strong focus on the organ output of JS Bach (in a project involving research and performance of the organ works) and the chorale fantasias of Max Reger. In addition, he has in recent years been occupied with the performance of 19th- and 20th-century music, including complete performances of organ music by Jehan Alain (2011), Liszt (the three great works -2011), Reubke, Olivier Messiaen (2008) and Maurice Duruflé ( Naxos 8.557924) and has premiered several works by the Austrian composer & organist, Franz Danksagmüller.