Parker Ramsay, a former student from King’s Ely, has been announced as the winner of the 2014 Sweelinck International Organ Competition.
Parker, from Dickson County Tennessee, attended the school between 2007 and 2009, when he won an Organ Scholarship into the Sixth Form.
As a musician, Parker has a formidable intellectual grasp of academic music, achieving two music diplomas with Distinction – DipABRSM on both Harp and Organ. Parker continued with his studies on the harp at the London Conservatoire and with Paul Trepte, Director of Music at Ely Cathedral, on the organ.
He then gained the diploma of Associate of the Royal College of Organists, before going on to win a highly prestigious Organ Scholarship to King’s College, Cambridge. With its famous Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, as well as concerts, other broadcasts, recordings and overseas tours, this is one of the most coveted organ awards at undergraduate level in the world.
The Principal, Sue Freestone, expressed how proud she was of her former student, “Parker was always deeply impressive both as a musician and as an intellect. He was always destined to do well and it was only a matter of time until he stepped onto the international musical platform.”