JOHN WALKER
'From his very first recordings, John Walker has been his own man and has gone his own way. Ignoring trends, he has developed his own orchestral style and sound. Now, with state of the art equipment and a growing audience, he can truly be considered the Richard Clayderman of the modern electronic organ.'
Just one of the many accolades by many respected members of the music business.
With the release of his latest double album 'Your Favourite Melodies' (as advertised on TV) and 'Your Favourite Christmas Melodies', the name John Walker and the Digital Orchestra has been introduced to a completely new audience and through radio broadcasts, concerts and promotional presentations his music is receiving remarkably high acclaim.
Concert performances at over two hundred and fifty Organ and Keyboard Societies, both in this country and abroad, together with airplay of his recordings on local and national radio have enhanced his reputation as one of the country's leading keyboard players. He is in great demand for National Organ Festivals and is a regular contributor to various specialist magazines, for which he has written numerous feature articles and product reviews.
John's recordings have been featured numerous times on the BBC Radio 2 programme The Organist Entertains and, at the beginning of 1992, presenter Nigel Ogden invited John to introduce the new Electronic Organ News Spot, which was to be broadcast on the programme monthly. This appointment coincided with a restructuring of the programme and to celebrate the new format, John took part in a live broadcast of the programme from the Concert Hall of Broadcasting House. However, after seven years with the programme, due to John's ever-increasing workload, John left the show at the end of 1998.
John started playing the piano at the age of twelve and whilst a chorister in his hometown of Winslow, became fascinated with the church organ and was soon playing for services. He was also in demand as accompanist for local amateur dramatic and music societies and at the age of seventeen, John played for various functions and shows on the Compton Theatre Organ at Aylesbury Civic Centre. For the next three years he was keyboard player with a local cabaret group.
His main career until this time had been engineering, but in 1980 he joined Chappell Of Bond Street in Central Milton Keynes as manager of their organ department. After three years in retail he left to become a professional musician. This event coincided with the opening of Turners Musical Merry Go Round, a huge entertainment complex in Northampton, where he became resident keyboard player on the Electronic Organ. During this time, he was busy composing, producing recordings and establishing his reputation as a concert organist.
The popularity of John's own compositions and innumerable requests for sheet music led to the publication in 1993 of a 72 page Music Book, containing 24 of his own original pieces. This accompanies and is directly compatible with the CD and cassette 'My Favourite John Walker Originals'. In 1998 John produced his second music book comprising arrangements taken from 'Unchained Melodies' and 'Just The Way You Are' CD albums: eleven great popular songs arranged for the electronic organ.
John's contract with See For Miles Records, who produced and distributed his recordings throughout the UK and abroad, promoted John Walker And The Digital Orchestra (John's name for his keyboards and equipment), to a much wider international audience.
'From his very first recordings, John Walker has been his own man and has gone his own way. Ignoring trends, he has developed his own orchestral style and sound. Now, with state of the art equipment and a growing audience, he can truly be considered the Richard Clayderman of the modern electronic organ.'
Just one of the many accolades by many respected members of the music business.
With the release of his latest double album 'Your Favourite Melodies' (as advertised on TV) and 'Your Favourite Christmas Melodies', the name John Walker and the Digital Orchestra has been introduced to a completely new audience and through radio broadcasts, concerts and promotional presentations his music is receiving remarkably high acclaim.
Concert performances at over two hundred and fifty Organ and Keyboard Societies, both in this country and abroad, together with airplay of his recordings on local and national radio have enhanced his reputation as one of the country's leading keyboard players. He is in great demand for National Organ Festivals and is a regular contributor to various specialist magazines, for which he has written numerous feature articles and product reviews.
John's recordings have been featured numerous times on the BBC Radio 2 programme The Organist Entertains and, at the beginning of 1992, presenter Nigel Ogden invited John to introduce the new Electronic Organ News Spot, which was to be broadcast on the programme monthly. This appointment coincided with a restructuring of the programme and to celebrate the new format, John took part in a live broadcast of the programme from the Concert Hall of Broadcasting House. However, after seven years with the programme, due to John's ever-increasing workload, John left the show at the end of 1998.
John started playing the piano at the age of twelve and whilst a chorister in his hometown of Winslow, became fascinated with the church organ and was soon playing for services. He was also in demand as accompanist for local amateur dramatic and music societies and at the age of seventeen, John played for various functions and shows on the Compton Theatre Organ at Aylesbury Civic Centre. For the next three years he was keyboard player with a local cabaret group.
His main career until this time had been engineering, but in 1980 he joined Chappell Of Bond Street in Central Milton Keynes as manager of their organ department. After three years in retail he left to become a professional musician. This event coincided with the opening of Turners Musical Merry Go Round, a huge entertainment complex in Northampton, where he became resident keyboard player on the Electronic Organ. During this time, he was busy composing, producing recordings and establishing his reputation as a concert organist.
The popularity of John's own compositions and innumerable requests for sheet music led to the publication in 1993 of a 72 page Music Book, containing 24 of his own original pieces. This accompanies and is directly compatible with the CD and cassette 'My Favourite John Walker Originals'. In 1998 John produced his second music book comprising arrangements taken from 'Unchained Melodies' and 'Just The Way You Are' CD albums: eleven great popular songs arranged for the electronic organ.
John's contract with See For Miles Records, who produced and distributed his recordings throughout the UK and abroad, promoted John Walker And The Digital Orchestra (John's name for his keyboards and equipment), to a much wider international audience.