Composer

Biography

John Wells is a graduate of Cambridge University, where he was organ scholar at King’s College Chapel under Sir David Willcocks. He received his organ doctorate with high distinction from Indiana University after studies with Dr Oswald Ragatz. He is well-known to New Zealand audiences as concert performer, composer, recording artist and teacher.

He is active as a composer: recent commissions include a work exploiting the particular sonorities of the Tongan choral tradition, other choral works, and his fourth and fifth organ suites for a meantone instrument (inspired by the Auckland University organ). His compositions incorporate Maori scales and rhythms and his organ concerto has been performed throughout new Zealand and in Australia. He has composed 25 prelude and fugue pairs for ‘The Well-Tempered Piano’, thirty prelude and fugues in all keys. Other compositions include works for young players and youth orchestras. His work as City Organist has involved establishing a series of classic organ concerts and advising on the planned restoration of the Town Hall organ by 2011, the centenary of the installation of the original instrument.