Sir Frederick Bridge Sir John Frederick Bridge CVO played the organ, wrote music, taught, and played the piano. Bridge started playing the organ in church before he was 20 years old. By the time he was 24, he had reached his goal of playing the organ in Manchester Catheral, which he did. He worked there for six years before being asked to become organist at Westminster Abbey, where he stayed for the rest of his career. He made a number of changes to bring the Abbey's music more up-to-date and better. He also organized the music for a number of state events, including two coronations. Bridge taught and gave talks at the University of London, the Royal College of Music, and Gresham College. Arthur Benjamin and Noel Gay were among his students as were organists Edward Bairstow and Herbert Brewer, director Landon Ronald, and Arnold Dolmetsch, who was one of the founders of early music. A lot of people came to his public lectures at Gresham College, which were about a lot of different topics and musical times. Bridge was the conductor of the Royal Choral Society for 25 years. With them, he played many new works, including some of his own compositions and works by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and Parry. Read More Read Less