Organist and Master of the Choristers, Guildford Cathedral
Katherine Dienes-Williams MA, BMus, FRCO, LTCL, Hon. FRSCM, Hon. FGCM
Katherine Dienes-Williams, MA, BMus, FRCO, LTCL, Hon. FRSCM, Hon. FGCM was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Guildford Cathedral in January 2008. In May 2022 she was appointed the first ever female President of the Cathedral Organists’ Association.
Katherine was born and educated in Wellington, New Zealand and studied for a BA in Modern Languages and a BMus at Victoria University, Wellington. Katherine was Organ Scholar at Wellington Cathedral from 1988 to 1991 when she was appointed Assistant Organist there.
Katherine came to England in 1991 to take up the post of Organ Scholar at Winchester Cathedral and Assistant Organist at Winchester College. She has also held posts as Organist and Assistant Director of Music at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool, Assistant Organist and Director of the Cathedral Girls’ Choir at Norwich Cathedral prior to moving to Warwick as Director of Music at the Collegiate Church of St. Mary.
Katherine holds a Master of Arts in Music and Liturgy from Leeds University. She is a Council member of the Royal College of Organists, a trustee of the Organists Charitable trust and the Young Organ Scholars’ Trust and is regularly asked to be a guest choral workshop leader for the Royal School of Church Music, the Oundle organ course, the Rodolfus foundation courses and the St. Thomas’ choir school girl choristers’ course, NYC. Katherine has given several organ recitals in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, U.S.A., Bermuda, the Netherlands, South Africa, Australia, Spain, and Singapore. She has performed as organ soloist with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé, the City of London Sinfonia and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also active as a composer, having received several commissions both in the UK, the USA, and New Zealand and features both as organist and choral conductor on several recordings. She is a Knight of the Grand Order of Vitéz and a Knight of the Order of St. Ladislau (Hungary).
Katherine is married to Patrick Williams, and they have a daughter, Hannah.