Sir David James Lumsden (19 March 1928 – 25 February 2023) was a British musical educator, conservatoire-chief, conductor, choirmaster, organist and harpsichordist.

[3] Following his church career, Lumsden became fellow, organist and choirmaster of New College, Oxford and a lecturer in the faculty of music, University of Oxford 1959–76;[2] Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians says of his time there, "He inherited … a choir of high reputation and added to its lustre, as was evidenced by the choir's unusually diverse repertory, its recordings and its impact on audiences during two tours of the USA (1973 and 1975)".

[1][2] Much in-demand as an organ soloist, Lumsden appeared at the 1966 BBC Proms, frequently at London's Royal Festival Hall, and toured the United States on a number of occasions.

[6] He caused controversy in 1988 by what Nicholas Kenyon called "plans to create a high level conservatory … for soloists on the model of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia", cutting the academy's total number of students.

[7] Kenyon added that "the plan caused a huge row with the other music colleges", which felt that this was an attempt to benefit the Academy at their expense.

They included Sir Colin Davis, Lynn Harrell, Hans Werner Henze, Stephen Kovacevich, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Robert Tear.

Some members of the RAM faculty felt that occasional visits from star performers added little and even detracted from the day-to-day work of the resident teaching staff.