Organ Concert

Programme:

César Franck (1822-1890): Première Choral in E major, Deuxième Choral in B minor, Troisième Choral in A minor (from "Trois Chorals")
Paul Hofhaimer (1459-1537): "Salve Regina" alternatim
Thierry Escaich: III. Vers l'Espérance (from "Poèmes pour Orgue")

Matthias Maierhofer is Professor of Organ at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and cathedral organist at the Münster Unserer Lieben Frau. He studied organ, early music, and church music in Graz, Freiburg, Leipzig, and at the Schola Cantorum Basel. In 2007 he won the Pachelbel Prize at the International Organ Week in Nuremberg; further awards followed at the International Franz Schmidt Organ Competition in Kitzbühel (2008), the International Bach Competition in Arnstadt (2007), the International Organ Concours in Nijmegen (2006), and the International Organ Competition "M.K. Čiurlionis" in Vilnius (2003). He also received an interpretation prize from the Viennese Gottfried von Einem Society and an arts grant from the state of Styria.

As a soloist and continuo player he has performed with ensembles including the Dresdner Kreuzchor, the Thomanerchor Leipzig, the Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Staatskapelle Halle. He has given concerts across Europe as well as in the USA, Russia, Japan, and South Korea. Recordings have been released by various broadcasters and on the Ambitus, Ambiente Audio, and Spektral labels; he has also contributed to CD productions and publications by Edition Helbling.

From 2009 to 2013 he led an organ class at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" in Leipzig. In 2013 he was appointed successor to Prof. Dr. Gerre Hancock in the chair of organ and church music at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was named Dean's Fellow in 2015 and awarded the Ducloux Fellowship of the College of Fine Arts. From 2014 to 2016 he was also organist of the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin, which houses the historic Holbrook organ and the large organ op. 46 by Charles Fisk.