This Sunday, April 3 at 4:00 p.m., the Christ Church Concert Series is pleased to present one of the most vibrant and fascinating organists today, Christoph Bull. Born in Mannheim, Germany, the renowned organist has performed and recorded around the world, including France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Russia, India, Taiwan and El Salvador, at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and at venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Lincoln Center in New York City, Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, the Cathedrals of Moscow, Saint-Denis and Salzburg as well as rock clubs like The Viper Room, The Roxy and The Whisky in Los Angeles. Additionally, he’s collaborated with leading orchestras, conductors, choirs and ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, James Conlon, Carl St.Clair, Pacific Chorale, Pacific Symphony and Grammy-winning Southwest Chamber Music.
Now based in Los Angeles, Bull is the university organist and professor of organ at UCLA and is organist-in-residence at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles where he plays the largest church pipe organ in the world. His music has been broadcast on television and public radio including NPR’s flagship station in Southern California, KCRW, on classical KUSC, and the Minnesota based public radio program, Pipedreams. Equally versed in classical and popular music, he is considered one of the most versatile and unique organists of our times. In his concerts, he presents the multicolored sounds, styles and collaborative aspects of the organ in a new light and excites wide audiences.
Christoph Bull improvised his first melodies on the piano at the age of five and gave his first organ recitals and rock concerts with a band at the age of twelve. He concertized with the National Youth Orchestra of Germany and was the subject of a longtime study about highly gifted musicians together with other artists such as pianist Lars Vogt. Following his graduation at Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasium Mannheim and organ studies at University of Church Music in Heidelberg and Musikhochschule Freiburg, he earned degrees at Berklee College of Music (majoring in Songwriting, graduating summa cum laude), University of Southern California (majoring in Organ) and American Conservatory of Music (majoring in Organ and Sacred Music) on multiple scholarships. His organ teachers were Cherry Rhodes, Hermann Schäffer, Ludwig Dörr, Samuel Swartz, Christoph Schöner and Paul Jordan. He also participated in master courses with Marie-Claire Alain, Guy Bovet, Craig Cramer and Rudi Lutz. He won prizes in numerous organ and composition competitions, including “Jugend musiziert”, Michael Masser Competition, Berklee College of Music Songwriting Competition and International Organ Competition Marcello Galanti.
Sunday’s concert, rescheduled from September 2015 due to the renovations at Christ Church, was originally intended to be the premier performance of the state-of-the-art Rodgers Infinity 484 Organ at the church. The concert is open to the public and a free will offering will be received. The performance is partially underwritten by the Talbot County and Maryland State Arts Councils. The church is located at 111 S. Harrison Street in Easton. For information call 410-822-2677 or visit www.christchurcheaston.org.
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