A talented young organist from King’s College Cambridge has been found dead in the River Cam, with the local community describing his loss as a “deeply saddened” moment for the college and the wider music world.
Harrison Cole, 25, who served as Assisting Organist at King’s College, was discovered in the river near the college at around 9.15am on Sunday 7 June. Cambridgeshire Police confirmed his death is not being treated as suspicious and has been passed to the coroner. A force spokesperson said: “We were called to the River Cam at about 9.15am on Sunday with reports of the body of a man in the river near to King’s College. The death is not being treated as suspicious and has been passed to the coroner.”
In a statement, King’s College paid tribute to Cole as “a glorious person and an amazing organist.” The college said: “We are deeply saddened to share the news of the death of Harrison Cole, Assisting Organist at King’s College.”
Cole’s musical career began early. He was a music scholar at Ipswich School, spending three years as a student at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music during his school years. After a gap year organ scholarship at Wells Cathedral, he took up an organ scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge in 2019. Following graduation, he spent a year as assistant organist at Gonville and Caius College before joining King’s College in September 2024.
During his time at King’s, Cole performed with the Choir on numerous recordings, broadcasts and concert tours, including two Festivals of Nine Lessons and Carols services, and tours to Australia, Estonia, the USA and Canada. The college confirmed he had been due to leave King’s this summer, having recently secured assistantships at St Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge and St Michael’s in Cornhill — two of London’s most prestigious musical institutions — from which he had been preparing to launch a freelance career as a pianist, organist and conductor, according to Cambridgeshire Live.
