Summer Organ Recital with Francesca Massey - Selby Abbey

We are delighted to announce Selby Abbey’s 2025 Lunchtime Organ Recital Series running weekly this summer, featuring exceptional organists from across Great Britain. Recitals take place on Tuesdays at 12.30pm and programmes will be publicised in advance of each recital. Admission is FREE with a collection taken to support the brilliant work of Selby Abbey Trust. Please note these dates in your diaries and we look forward to welcoming you!

19 August: FRANCESCA MASSEY is renowned as a superb organ recitalist, recording artist, choral director and teacher, following a 15-year career in cathedral music working at Peterborough, Durham and Rochester Cathedrals.

Overture ‘Henry V’ (arr. Malcolm Riley)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Heroic Elegy (arr. Malcolm Riley) Ernest Farrar (1885-1918)
Suite for Jasper Fanfare; Jig; Berceuse; Scherzetto; Toccata Malcolm Riley (born 1960)
Toccata, Chorale and Fugue, Op. 16 Francis Jackson (1917-2022)

The organ of Selby Abbey is widely recognised as among the finest ‘romantic’ instruments in Britain. It was built in 1909 by the firm William Hill & Sons, and was magnificently restored in 2016 by Principal Pipe Organs of York, led by Geoffrey Coffin. With 4 manuals and 67 speaking stops, the organ’s sound is characterised by its bright choruses, a wealth of tonal colour, and its thrilling and powerful reeds. The organ gained international recognition in the 1960s when the Italian virtuoso organist, Fernando Germani made several recordings here. Since then the Abbey organ has been played and celebrated by distinguished organists from across the world.