APRA award-winning British Australian organist, Joseph Nolan, has been described by ABC Radio National as “one of the great organists of our time” and by Limelight (Australia) as “indisputably one of the world’s finest organists.” Critics have consistently praised Nolan’s artistry, with BBC Radio 3 Record Review admiring his “miraculous playing,” and Gramophone Magazine (UK) commenting “Joseph Nolan cannot be matched for his towering technique, vivid virtuosity, and inspired interpretive insight”.
In a review of the Nolan/Signum disk-Midnight at St Etienne Du Mont, Paris-American Music Magazine, Fanfare, writes “Joseph Nolan has attracted widespread attention as the Australian counterpart of Cameron Carpenter….displaying jaw-dropping virtuosity, with both finger-work and footwork that leave one astonished at his dexterity.”
Renowned for his interpretations of Widor’s complete organ works for Signum Classics, Nolan’s recordings have been acclaimed by Gramophone Magazine as “the current yardstick for all Widor recordings”. Musicweb International describes the Widor cycle as “the benchmark set”, while Classicalsource heralded the release as “a landmark”, awarding it five stars and Editor’s Choice. In a comparative review of the Widor symphonies featuring some of the most illustrious figures past and present in the organ world, The New Criterion, New York, remarked, “The Nolan set in particular is very fine”.
The cycle has won two Gramophone Critics’ Choice awards and garnered a wealth of five-star reviews from respected publications including BBC Music Magazine, The Criterion (New York), MusicWeb International, and ClassicalSource. Nolan’s recordings have a global reach, broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Pipedreams USA, Radio France, Radio Sweden, and ABC Classic. Notably, Nolan’s recording of Widor’s Symphony No. 5 at La Madeleine in Paris was named Apple Classical’s Editor’s Choice, chosen over 169 other entries.
As an exclusive artist with Signum Classics—a winner of Gramophone Magazine’s Label of the Year—Nolan’s discography features some of the world’s most revered organs in iconic venues such as St Sulpice, La Madeleine, and St Etienne du Mont in Paris; St Sernin, Toulouse; St François de Sales, Lyon; St Bavo, Haarlem; St Ouen, Rouen; Buckingham Palace, London; and Eglisé St Martin, Dudelange, Luxembourg.
Limelight Magazine has awarded Joseph recordings three Editor’s Choice awards. Joseph is also the first-and only organist-to have been awarded Limelight’s coveted Recording of the Month for his disk entitled-Midnight at St Etienne du Mont-the Parisian ecclesiastical home of Maurice Duruflé. Musicweb International selected Joseph’s recording of German Romantic repertoire from St Bavo Haarlem as a Recording of the Year with legendary critic, Marc Rochester, hailing the recording as ‘The Organ Disc of the Decade”.
In January, 2025, Joseph completed the significant challenge of recording the complete organ works of Charles-Valentin Alkan during an intense four-night session at Eglisé St Martin in Dudelange, Luxembourg. The inaugural volume of the Alkan cycle is set for release by Signum Classics in March 2026.
Nolan is also highly sought after as a soloist with major orchestras. His Sydney Opera House debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, joined by renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and conductor David Robertson, drew accolades from Limelight, The Sydney Morning Herald, and ArtsHub, who declared “Nolan has an unequivocally fine ear for French repertoire…..I have never heard the Sydney Opera House organ sounding better.”
In 2024, Nolan made his debut as a featured artist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, performing in the world premiere of Mary Finsterer’s Stabat Mater at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne. This performance subsequently won Performance of the Year and Work of the Year at the 2024 Arts (APRA) awards in Melbourne.
Joseph has appeared as concerto soloist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra at St Peter’s Cathedral, Canberra Symphony Orchestra at Llewellyn Hall, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, Queensland Symphony Orchestra at QPAC, West Australian Symphony Orchestra at Perth Concert Hall, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, where he performed with Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero and conductor Alexander Shelley on a national tour.
Most recently, Nolan made a highly successful debut as a featured soloist in the 2025/2026 Singapore Symphony Season at Victoria Hall in October 2025.
Joseph’s formative years were shaped at The Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with Professor Richard Popplewell, won the Canon Bark prize for most promising organ student, graduated with First Class Honours for his BMus recital at Temple Church, and pursued postgraduate studies with Marie Claire Alain in Paris, supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Hattori Foundation.
Following being appointed to Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace in 2004, Joseph also performed at Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace, including giving the inaugural concert celebrating the refurbishment of the Grand Ballroom Organ in Buckingham Palace. Joseph holds the honour of being the first organist to release a commercial recording of the Grand Ballroom Organ at Buckingham Palace for Signum Classics.
In 2008, Nolan was recruited as Master of Music at St George’s Cathedral in Perth, Western Australia, by the Dean of the Cathedral, Dr John Shepherd (now Dean Emeritus). Nolan was entrusted with the ambitious task of cultivating a world-class Cathedral music program while continuing his international performance and recording career. Almost immediately upon his arrival in Perth, Nolan established the Cathedral Consort and St George’s Cathedral Concert Series, building up choral standards that enabled Nolan to lead the St George’s Cathedral Consort in works such as Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra at Perth Concert Hall in 2019, broadcast live on ABC Classic.
Nolan has also led the Cathedral Consort in many Australian and West Australian premieres such as Monteverdi Vesper’s with period instruments, Pachelbel’s Vespers, and Alexander Levine’s The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom.
Christopher Martin Jenkins, the legendary cricket commentator for BBC Radio’s Test Match Special, and chief cricket correspondent for The Daily Telegraph and the The Times, wrote in his autobiography “A Cricketing Life”—”The present musical director, the organ recitalist, Joseph Nolan, has raised standards to exquisite levels and made it more easily possible for the fortunate congregations in a faraway city to experience that sense of the infinite that is the essence of faith”.
Under Nolan’s leadership, the Cathedral Consort has performed at the Perth Festival, for Musica Viva, and collaborated with UK groups, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Academy of Ancient Music, and The King’s Singers. Gloria, a collaboration with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, St George’s Cathedral Consort, and contemporary dance group Co3, conducted by Nolan, received unanimous five-star reviews and won the 2023 Australian Performing Arts Mainstage award.
In April 2024, Nolan conducted a concert version of Gloria—this time featuring Vivaldi’s Gloria and Handel’s Dixit Dominus—at Perth Concert Hall, a performance voted as one of Australia’s top ten concerts of 2024 by Limelight. Nolan has also conducted the West Australian premiere of Mary Finsterer’s Stabat Mater, with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and St George’s Cathedral Consort at Winthrop Hall, UWA, in April 2025. Limelight awarded the concert five stars writing Nolan led “an extraordinary performance of an extraordinary work.” The concert was broadcast by ABC Classic in May 2025.
In recognition of Nolan’s significant contribution to French music, The Government of France honoured Joseph Nolan with the medal of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2016. The University of Western Australia awarded Nolan the prestigious higher doctorate, the Doctor of Letters, in 2018. His career has been featured in major interviews and articles on ABC Radio National (Australia), Gramophone, Choir and Organ, The Organ, The Age (Sydney), Classical Music, and The Australian.
In January 2026, Nolan will record a commercial album for Signum Classics at the world-famous Berliner Dom, home to the renowned 1905 Sauer Organ. Future engagements will see Joseph Nolan make his debut as conductor with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra at the New Zealand Festival in Wellington and return as a featured soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in four concerts at Melbourne Town Hall.
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