Music staff

Duncan Courts

Director of Music

Duncan Courts has been the Director of Music since 2015.

Duncan studied the organ with Andrew M. Wilson and Margaret Phillips. He held organ scholarships in Devon and Birmingham, followed by several church posts throughout the South West. Prior to joining St. Peter’s, he also directed the Fountain Singers between 2005 and 2011 as a visiting choir at a number of cathedrals and greater churches in the UK. He is an Associate of the Royal College of Organists.

He is married to Caren, a professional singer and singing teacher, and they have two children.

Ian Harrison

Organist

Ian Harrison has been the Organist since April 2025.

Ian was a chorister at Blackburn Cathedral under John Bertalot, and a graduate of Durham University, where he read Music. He studied the organ with Alan Thurlow and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists.

He was Director of Music at St. Stephen’s Church in Bournemouth between 1982 and 1988, and again between 1994 and 2019, where he founded the annual St. Stephen’s May Festival. He was also Director of Music of Durlston Court School for over thirty years.

(Photo with thanks to Alwyn Ladell)