Jennifer Bate playing Samuel Wesley at St James Bermondsey

I have meaning to add our tribute to the genius of Jennifer Bate, who died at the end of March.  We will always be enormously grateful to her enthusiasm for the 1829 Bishop organ at St James, with every reason; it is in my opinion one of the great European organs.  She was a passionate advocate of the music of Samuel Wesley, and found in Bishop’s organ the ideal vehicle for it, the largest and most up-to-date organ of Wesley’s time.  Just after we finished restoring the organ in 2002, Jennifer spent many hours mastering the unusual layout and the unusual demands of the organ, and produced a wonderful recording.