Neil Cockburn is Director of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, in the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster.
Hailing from St Andrews, Scotland, he was educated at Oxford University (BA Hons, Music), the Royal Northern College of Music (Master's in Organ Performance and the Professional Performance Diploma), the Conservatoire National de Rueil-Malmaison in France (Premier prix de perfectionnement), and the University of Calgary (PhD, Musicology). His formative teachers and mentors include David Sanger, Victor Coelho, Margaret Phillips, Anne Marsden Thomas, and Dame Gillian Weir.
We won First Prize at the 1996 Dublin International Organ Competition, and has received numerous other prestigious awards, including the W.T> Best Memorial Organ Scholarship, from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, and the Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Prize.
Before taking up his current post in Vancouver, Neil served as Director of Chapel Music at the University of King's College, Halifax, Canada (2022-2024), and as Director of Music at the Anglican Cathedral Church of the Redeemer, Calgary (2015-2022). Previous church appointments include organ scholarships at Keble College, Oxford, and Chichester Cathedral, and he was Director of Music of Bromley Parish Church in Kent, from 1997-2000.
From 2000 to 2015 he was Head of Organ Studies at the Mount Royal Conservatory, where he collaborated with Simon Preston on the International Summer School and later served as Artistic Director of the Calgary Organ Festival (2010-2015). His teaching was recognized with a Distinguished Teaching Award from Mount Royal University in 2014. He has also held teaching positions at the University of Calgary, Dalhousie University, and the St Giles International Organ SChool.
A sought-after ensemble and continuo player, Neil performed regularly with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra for more than twenty years, appearing as orchestral organist, harpsichord continuo player, and concerto soloist. His performances can be heard on a number of recordings.
