Arnold Loxam

He was an internationally renowned concert organist, with a wide musical talent, who began piano lessons at the age of five, immediately taking to music. He played the church organ in his teens and gave his first radio broadcast as a child pianist in Bradford in 1925.

But it was to the theatre organ that he devoted his entire career, and he was still playing professionally when he was 90.

He was a man of great charm who appeared in concerts all over England, as well as abroad, with an infectious enthusiasm for everything he did which particularly endeared him to his loyal listeners. In the United States he was also remembered for the Union flag socks that he proudly wore at his concerts.

Arnold Loxam was born in Wibsey, then a village on the outskirts of Bradford, the youngest of three children of a textile overlooker.

He was just three when his father, and brother Percy, taught him to play hymn tunes on the piano with one finger.

As a child, Arnold attended Chapel with his parents and it was there that he first became fascinated by the organ. When only four, he is reputed to have said that one day he would play. At nine, he became Sunday School pianist, regularly taking part in Chapel concerts.

He trained under the legendary Charles Stott, one of the leading organists in the North of England at the time and organist at All Saints, Little Horton Green, Bradford, who had studied in Leipzig and played before Brahms two years before the composer's death in 1897.

While still the Sunday School pianist, Arnold Loxam made his first broadcast on the Leeds/Bradford BBC Radio Station in Children's Hour, and his first appearance on a Wurlitzer organ was at the then New

Victoria Cinema, in Bradford, which with 3,318 seats was one of the largest cinemas in England.

In 1946, he began playing regularly and broadcasting from there for BBC Radio, and was appointed deputy to the resident organist, Norman Briggs, until he left in 1948.

Mr Loxam succeeded him and became famous for his bouncy style of

playing. He stayed for 16 years, often broadcasting nationally and regionally from the theatre.

While there, in 1948, he met his future wife, Audrey, who was working as an usherette. They had a son Keith, also an organist, who followed his father into broadcasting at BBC Radio Leeds, and is now a BBC producer in Glasgow.

After their marriage, Mrs Loxam spent 25 years as her husband's driver, chauffeuring him to his many engagements in this country and overseas.

He gave his first solo broadcast on the BBC Theatre organ on November 29, 1947, and his association with Bradford continued until 1962 when the BBC moved its broadcasts to the Leeds Odeon until the organ was removed in 1968.

While there he also began a regular series of broadcasts for Leeds General Infirmary, and with the opening of BBC Radio Leeds became one of its regular contributors. As the electronic organ developed Mr Loxam also turned to that instrument, being musical director at the

Huddersfield Continental from 1959 to 1962. He also spent nine years at theatre clubs accompanying such stars as David Whitfield, Helen

Shapiro, Danny Williams and Joe Henderson, and also enjoyed successful seasons at Blackpool.

He was also an accomplished percussionist, playing everything but the timpani with the Northern Philharmonic Orchestra during the Second World War. He had been taken on at a week's notice by Sam Wood, well known in the brass band world, because there was a shortage of percussionists. He played with them for some years, under the

conductorship of Sir Malcolm Sargent, among others.

Mr Loxam added TV broadcasts to his repertoire when commercial TV started in Lancashire, in 1956, with Granada. For a number of years he was also resident organist at Beck Hill Working Men's Club, Bradford, where his dance evenings were particularly popular. In 1996, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Bradford University for his musical achievements.

Mr Loxam is survived by his wife and son.