Professional Overview
Jamie Hitel is a distinguished British American organist and choir director who currently serves as Director of Music at Christ Church Greenwich, a historic Episcopal parish in the New York metropolitan area. With broad experience as a performer, composer, conductor and educator, Jamie has held prestigious positions and performed in distinguished venues across the globe.
Formerly Director of Music at Waltham Abbey, England, Jamie moved to the United States in 2000. Since that time, he has worked extensively within the Episcopal church, training choirs of boys, girls, and adults, both professional and volunteer, establishing himself as a leading figure in sacred music education and performance.
In 2022, Jamie successfully completed a remarkable 9-year, $3.6 million project to design and install a four-manual organ, built by the renowned Harrison & Harrison of Durham, England. This magnificent instrument has received global acclaim as a landmark organ, embodying 21st-century interpretation of the best of traditional British organ-building.
Jamie Hitel maintains a busy solo organ recital career, having given recitals in several of the UK cathedrals, as well as major venues across Europe. He has appeared as a guest conductor of the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra and Valparaiso Chamber Choir, and taken part in a series of performances at St Thomas Church, Leipzig, Germany
Recent choral engagements have included directing choir residences at York Minster, Bristol Cathedral, Winchester Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral, London, Canterbury Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey (2024). A choir residency at York Minster and Durham Cathedral will take place in July 2026.
Jamie will serve as Music Director for the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) Carolina Summer Choral Course in July 2027.
Hitel’s compositional portfolio encompasses hymns, chants, anthems, and two stage musicals, demonstrating versatility across both sacred and secular musical genres. Published anthems include Hark, the Glad Sound (Encore Publications), and Bread of the World (RSCM). Commissioned works include Be shepherds of God’s flock, written for the recent installation of the new Dean of Trinity Cathedral, Columbia, South Carolina. The Yale University Consort will include Hitel’s Preces and Responses in their upcoming fall 2025 program.
