Organist and Master of Choristers Emeritus and Honorary Canon of San Francisco’s famed Grace Cathedral.

The music of Richard Purvis holds a very special place in American 20th century history. His style has unique melodic, harmonic and rhythmic qualities. Not one to embrace fads, he was conservative in a very liberal, musical way, using the best of many musical styles. He was a master of composing and arranging concise, definitive, colorful and listenable pieces. Most compositions were musically realized for the sound of the great Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ in San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral, where he was Organist and Choirmaster for over 25 years. Richard built the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys into a nationally recognized body — eventually developing into the Grace Cathedral School for Boys in 1957.