A free organ recital at Christ Church next week by renowned organist Simon Preston commemorates the tragically short life of a former Oxford graduate, writes NICOLA LISLE

When Simon Preston sinks his fingers on to the organ keys in Christ Church's magnificent cathedral next Thursday evening, he knows that this will be no ordinary recital. For many, it will have an almost unbearable poignancy, for this is the second annual concert in a series established to commemorate the life of Dr Andrew Chamblin, a former Christ Church graduate student, whose sudden death in February 2006, at the age of 36, sent shock waves through his circle of family and friends that are still keenly felt.

One close friend who is still upset by Andrew's passing is Dr Joanna Ashbourn, a graduate of Christ Church and now a Research Fellow at St Cross College. Joanna has been instrumental in setting up the memorial concert series in Oxford, as well as a memorial lecture series in Cambridge.

"He was a close friend, and a brilliant theoretical physicist," she told me. "When he was a graduate student at Oxford he was doing his Masters degree with Sir Roger Penrose, and he read a paper with a joint conjecture by Professors Stephen Hawking and Gary Gibbons and disproved it. So he was invited to Cambridge to present his work, and in the course of discussion that day he was invited to apply to do a PhD there.

"He also happened to be a very accomplished organist and harpsichordist. When he was an undergraduate he did a major in mathematics and a minor in music, and he did organ and harpsichord, so that was another love of his."

In 2006, the Andrew Chamblin Memorial Lecture Fund was established in Cambridge, via the Cambridge Foundation, to fund an annual lecture to be given by distinguished speakers on subjects relevant to Andrew's work. The first lecture, in May 2007, was given by Prof Stephen Hawking, and the second will be given by Prof Sir Roger Penrose later this month.

In tandem, the Andrew Chamblin Memorial Concert Fund was set up at Christ Church, to support a series of concerts to be given in his memory.

"We were trying to think of something to do in Oxford, rather than duplicating a memorial lecture in theoretical physics, so we thought of doing a memorial concert and focusing on the organ," sad Joanna. "Maybe at some point we'll do a harpsichord recital, but so far it's been organ recitals.

"We hope to endow both funds in perpetuity. We're trying to make sure we don't run out of money so that we can keep going for years to come. We've already had contributions from many, many friends and colleagues around the world."

The inaugural concert in May 2007 was given by the internationally-renowned organist Thomas Trotter, who played an hour-long programme of Mozart, Handel and Bach, and Joanna was encouraged by the public response.

"It went very well. It's hard to tell how many people were there because the cathedral holds about 1,000, but I think we had between two and three hundred, and they were general public as well as friends of Andrew's."

This year's recitalist, Simon Preston, has Oxford connections, having been organist of Christ Church Cathedral and tutor in music at Christ Church from 1970 to 1981, and he has made a number of recordings with the Christ Church Cathedral choir. Excitingly, his hour-long recital of music by Bach will be a preview of a concert he is presenting at the Proms later this year as part of the Proms Bach Day.

"The concert suits Andrew's taste, because he loved Bach and baroque music generally," said Joanna. "In due course, they might do something more contemporary, but, for now, the concerts reflect Andrew's interest, which was the baroque period."

Raising funds for somebody who is unknown outside his own circles is not easy, as Joanna admitted.

"It is hard to get sponsorship. It's easier for things that are obviously public-spirited, such as communities and schools, but actually the community in which Andrew worked has been incredibly generous. And we are reaching out to people who perhaps didn't know him as well, but might be interested in what the lectures aim to achieve.

"The concerts are harder because obviously he wasn't in the field of music, so it's more difficult to attract sponsorship.

"For those of us who knew Andrew, it was a real shock, and having this to focus on has got us through the dark days. It's something that gives us a bit of passion and spirit in ensuring Andrew's legacy is remembered well into the future."

The second Andrew Chamblin Memorial Concert, given by Simon Preston OBE is at Christ Church Cathedral on Thursday at 7.30pm. Admission free. For more details, visit www.chch.ox.ac.uk/andrewchamblin or email hacmemorial@yahoo.co.uk.

Simon Preston's Bach concert at the Proms is on Sunday, August 24; for details visit www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2008/. For more information about Andrew Chamblin, and for details of how to donate to the memorial funds, visit the Andrew Chamblin Memorial Website at www.andrewchamblin.org