Barry Jordan was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 1957. As a schoolboy he learned to play the piano, organ, clarinet and most brass instruments, and dabbled in the cello for a while. He took his first regular organist's position at the age of 12.
At the beginning of 1976, he went to the University of Cape Town to study music, and graduated B. Mus in 1979,serving as assistant organist of the Anglican Cathedral of St. George (Hill organ) from 1977-1979. Subsequent military service meant four years as a clarinet player in a military band - long, noisy, frustrating years, but also a time in which he
could establish himself as an organist and a composer. He also founded and directed a contemporary music ensemble, Obelisk New Music, in Pretoria
In 1981 Barry Jordan won the SAMRO (South African Music Rights Organisation) Overseas Scholarship for Composers, but had to apply for the deferment of the award until the end of military service. By the end of 1983, when he was free, the currency exchange rate had plunged, and the award no longer sufficed to finance two years study abroad, so he returned to Cape Town as a music teacher and choral director at a high school for girls, enrolled for an M.Mus programme in Composition, returned to the cathedral as assistant organist, and began to study the organ with Shirley Gie, who he considers to have been one of his most influential teachers. Barry Jordan won two further scholarships for his orchestral work Last Things, and was able to move to Vienna at the beginning of 1986, entering the classes of Martin Haselböck (organ) and Francis Burt (composition). He then moved to Luebeck, continuing to work under Martin Haselböck but dropped composition studies. In January 1987 he became assistant organist to Prof. Hans Gebhard at the city church of St. Nikolai in Kiel.
In 1988 Jordan became Organist and Choir Director at the "Osterkirche" in Kiel, a position which allowed an immense amount of freedom to experiment and to gain experience. With a small vocal group of mostly trained singers, the Palestrina Ensemble, he was able to rehearse a large amount of mainstream but also unusual a capella literature, and with the Osterkantorei some large choral/ orchestral works, including Elijah and St. Paul, The Creation, Fauré Requiem, Britten's Saint Nicolas and the Mozart Coronation Mass. The very good organ by Alfred Führer also opened up a lot of possibilities.
Barry graduated with the advanced performer's diploma (Konzertexamen) with distinction at the beginning of 1989. For the concerto requirement he played the Anton Heiller concerto with the Pro Arte Orchestra of Hamburg, and the solo programme in Luebeck cathedral comprised music by J.S. Bach (e minor Prelude and Fugue, 6th Trio Sonata), Max Reger (Fantasy and Fuge on Hallelujah, Gott zu loben bleibet meine Seelenfreud), Marcel Dupré (Prelude and Fugue in B major) and of his own composition. Thereafter he began to work on the church music diplomas, graduating with the "A" diploma in 1994.
Almost immediately thereafter he was appointed to Magdeburg cathedral, and began work there in August of that year. Barry Jordan maintains a fairly busy schedule as recitalist in Germany and abroad.
The cathedral choir has, apart from its commitments in the services of the cathedral parish, also a heavy schedule of concerts, both a capella and with orchestra. In 1999 Barry formed an new chamber choir, "Querstand" (German: false relation), to continue the work begun with the Palestrina Ensemble. A debut concert took place in December 1999; tours are planned to Austria this summer and South Africa in February 2001.
Compositions have included:
Works in progress include a choral Mass and a large piece for piano.
E-mail Barry Jordan