Barry Jordan ------------ I was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 1957. As a boy I learned the piano, clarinet, all manner of brass instruments, and sang, but taught myself the organ, which I found fascinating. I went to the University of Cape Town (UCT) to study music in 1975, and decided to major in organ because there were so many people in all the practice rooms whizzing up and down scales faster than I could, but the organ rooms were dark and silent. In 1976 I became assistant organist of the city's Anglican cathedral with its wonderful Hill organ. That was also the year in which UCT got its Beckerath organ and Gillian Weir spent some weeks as a visiting professor, both indelible and formative experiences. I graduated Bachelor of Music in 1979, and in January 1980 began four miserable years of "alternative" (id est, non-combatant) military service, blowing my clarinet in the band of the South African Police. During this time, when I was stationed in Pretoria, I also co-founded and directed an ensemble for contemporary music, "Obelisk New Music", and sang in the semi-professional Chamber Choir of the SABC [?] in Johannesburg. In January 1984 I returned to Cape Town, took up my old job at the cathedral again as well as a new one as music master and choir director at a high school for girls. I also began work on my Master of Music, majoring in composition. I graduated at the end of 1985. My orchestral work, "Last Things", written for my portfolio, had to wait until September, 1998, for its first performance here in Magdeburg Cathedral. 1986 took me to Vienna; two scholarships enabled me to spend some time in Europe. I began work in the organ class of Martin Haselboeck and the composition class of Francis Burt. This was not destined to last very long; the rapid fall of South Africa's currency meant that penury was never far away. Towards the end of the year Martin Haselboeck was appointed Professor in Luebeck, and chose two students to take with him. Once established there, I got a job as assistant to Professor Hans Gebhard at his church, the Sankt Nicolaikirche in Kiel. I worked in Kiel, later at the Osterkirche, until I finished the third of the degrees which I received in Luebeck. I was appointed cathedral organist in Magdeburg at the beginning of 1994 and began work here at the beginning of August. I have a fairly active recital career, but not much time for composition any more, although I do occasionally have commissions to fulfill, and work often together with the marimba player Nils Grammerstorf, who has also recorded two of my works. I am married to a real "Magdeburgerin"; we have two children, the elder, my stepson, now ten, the younger, Nicolas, just 17 months in April 1999.