Cathedral Organist
Michael Fulcher
Michael Fulcher took up the position of Organist at the Cathedral in June 2011.
Michael's initial musical training was as a boy chorister in the Cathedral Choir of St John's under Dr. Robert Boughen. As a schoolboy at Churchie he studied the clarinet, piano and music theory to a high level, playing the school orchestra, big band and concert band. In his final two years of school he was Chapel Organist, playing for services in the Chapel most mornings of the week.
After a short time as a medical student Michael followed his true calling to music a B. Mus at the University of Queensland, studying the organ with Dr. Robert Boughen and gaining a High Distinction in Organ performance. Whilst freelancing after graduation Michael studied orchestral conducting with John Curro AM MBE, director of the Queensland Youth Orchestras, and formed his highly successful chamber choir, Vox Nova. In 1987 he was appointed Conductor of the Queensland University Musical Society, conducting such works as Vaughan William's A Sea Symphony, Mozart's Requiem and Coronation Mass, and Handel's Messiah to critical and audience acclaim.
Michael's performance of the Verdi Requiem at QUMS' 80th Anniversary concert lead a path to the operatic world as conductor and repetiteur. From 1993-95 Michael conducted productions of Britten's Billy Budd , Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and a stage production of Elijah at the Queensland Conservatorium Opera School in productions directed by Joseph Ward. In 1996 Michael was appointed Young Artist Conductor of the Victorian Sate Opera, conducting a performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni and working on John Cox's legendary production of Die Frau ohne Schatten by Richard Strauss conducted by Simone Young. From 1994-96 Michael was Director of Music at Trinity College, Melbourne University during which time he taught counterpoint at the University of Melbourne School of Music and conducted the Faculty Choirs.
In 1997 moved to London where he studied conducting with Sir Mark Elder and Sir Charles Mackerras, won the Charles Mackerras Conducting Scholarship, undertook the prestigious Guildhall School of Music Repetiteur's course, worked in the international singing studio of Janice Chapman and worked as a repetiteur at the English National Opera at the London Coliseum. During this period he spent 6 months in Milan studying Italian and maintaining freelance commitments in England. In 1998 he was Young Artist Conductor at Opera Queensland Conducting a production of Elixir of Love by Donizetti.
After 3 years based in Paris as a freelance repetiteur and accompanist, in 2004 Michael took up the position of Organist and Director of Music at Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, NZ and Music Director of the Wellington Orpheus Choir. Highlights there included several national TV and radio broadcasts of Midnight Mass and Nine Lessons and Carols services and the recording of two CD's with the Cathedral Choir and Choristers, and a Cathedral Choir tour of England and Paris which included services at Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, St George's Chapel Windsor, St John 's College Cambridge and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. At Wellington Cathedral Michael lead initiatives included a Composer-in-residence programme, building links with civic and national entities, quantum leaps in quality and strength of the mixed voice Choristers, and a new music focus. With the Wellington Orpheus Choir Michael conducted to critical and audience acclaim such works as the Requiems of Verdi, Fauré, Mozart, Brahms and Duruflé, Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, Roxanna Panufnik's Westminster Mass, Tavener's Lament for Jersualem, and J. S. Bach's St John Passion, St Matthew Passion and B minor mass. In addition he prepared the choir for highly successful performances of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In 2006 he formed the inaugural NZ International Festival Chorus for Wager's Parsifal and James Macmillan's Quickening which was conducted by the composer. In 2010 he prepared the massed choirs for a NZ International Festival performance of Mahler's Eighth Symphony conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy to great acclaim. In all three of these performances Michael's Choristers from Wellington Cathedral formed the basis of the children's choruses with great success.
As an organist, Michael appeared regularly as organist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra between 1987 and 1993 including two occasions as soloist in the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony. Latterly, he has given recitals in the Cathedrals of Brisbane, Melbourne, Wellington, Dunedin, and Auckland, the Town Halls of Wellington and Dunedin.
A major part of Michael's brief as Organist of St John's is to develop an Organ department/Academy in which young organists can be trained in the great tradition of liturgical organ playing as well as in the vast corpus of organ repertoire down the ages.
A summary of Michael's organist appointments follows here:
- Chapel Organist, ACGS ("Churchie") 1979-80
- Organist St Augustine's, Hamilton, Brisbane 1981-83
- Assistant Organist, St John 's Cathedral, Brisbane 1985-86, 1987-1993
- Director of Music, Trinity College, Melbourne University, 1994-96
- Deputy Organist, Our Lady of the Most Holy Redeemer, Exmouth Market, London 1998-99
- Organiste Titulaire, St George's Anglican Church, Paris 2003-04
- Organist & Director of Music, Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, 2004-11
- Organist, St John 's Cathedral, Brisbane 2011-
