William Wolstenholme

William Wolstenholme (24 February 186523 July 1931) was an English composer and organist. He was blind from birth. Biography William Wolstenholm was born in Blackburn, Lancashire on 24 February 1865. From the age of 9 he attended Worcester College for the Blind, where he first met and was encouraged by Edward Elgar. His primary musical training came from the organsist William Done. While in Worcester he played the Mendelssohn G minor piano concerto at a Worcester Philharmonic Society concert. At Oxford from 1877 he was the first blind musician to take the degree since John Stanley. In 1888, Wolstenholme returned to Blackburn as the organist of St Paul’s Church (closed in 1954 and demolished). He stayed until 1902 when he became the organist at the Congregationalist Chapel, King’s Weigh House in Mayfair, London. Wolstenholme was a close friend of the other noted blind organist Alfred Hollins and was also well known as a recitalist. His devoted sister Maud acted as his secretary and amanuensis for most of his life, accompanying him on an extensive and very successful tour of the US in 1908. This led to his popularity as a teacher for American students visiting London. In 1921 Wolsten