The Grier Trio

Francis Grier used to be organist of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and gave the first ever Prom concert given over to a solo performer in 1985. He is now a psychoanalyst – Editor-In-Chief of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis – and composer. In 1996 he was commissioned by St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, to write a setting of Psalm 150 to celebrate the Queens 70th birthday. In 2006 his Passion, commissioned by the BBC and VocalEssence (Minneapolis), was reviewed as “a work of vital attack, shivering beauty and compelling power…”, “a modern masterpiece”. He was awarded a British Composer Award in 2011. He has recorded with Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis, and has performed with Colin Carr, Louise Williams and Andrew Marriner – as well as with his daughters Savitri and Indira, including many performances at Saint Mary’s, Perivale. Recent recordings of his work have included Lit by Holy Fire by the choir of King’s College Cambridge, recordings of his organ music by Tom Winpenny in St Alban’s Cathedral and Stephen Farr in Merton College, Oxford, the latter also featuring Indira. 2023 also saw a recording of three carols for a CD of Christmas music sung by the choir of the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court, and Sword in the Soul recorded by Michael Waldron and the London Choral Sinfonia.

Francis is currently working on compositions for performance in 2025 by the choirs of Bath Abbey and Clare College, Cambridge.