Alcee Chriss Performs at Bethany Lutheran Church This Month

The Denver Rocky Mountain Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and Bethany Lutheran Church present one of the year’s most sought-after concert organists, Alcee Chriss, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 27, at Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 E. Hampden Ave., Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113.  This event is free, with a suggested donation of $20 per adult. A reception with the artist follows the program. 

The program is scheduled to include organ works by Sowerby and Reger, as well as the performer’s own transcriptions of orchestral pieces by Franck and Rachmaninoff. In addition, Dr. Chriss will present “In Memory of…” by Rashaan Allwood, winner of the 2021 American Guild of Organists/Marilyn Mason Award in Organ Composition. In the words of the composer, “This piece is written as an homage to victims of oppression and hardships.”

A featured star in the PBS documentary Pipe Dreams (2019), Alcee Chriss III is an organist and keyboardist from Fort Worth, Tex. Dr. Chriss is the winner of the 2017 Canadian International Organ Competition and the Firmin Swinnen Silver Medal at the 2016 Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition. He has been celebrated for his “grace, skill and abundant proficiency” by the Journal Assist News, Albuquerque. And of his most recent solo recording at Montreal Symphony Hall, Art et Rhapsodie (2019), the American Record Guide wrote that “he plays with clarity, imagination, musicality, virtuosity, and yes, personality.”

Dr. Chriss has performed throughout North America and Europe. Recent and upcoming performances include the International Orgelsommer (Stuttgart, Germany), Stockholm City Hall (Sweden), and as soloist with the Montreal Symphony in a performance of Copland’s Symphony for Organ and Orchestra. Other engagements include the Princeton University Chapel, Spreckels Organ Pavilion, and International Organ Summer Karlsruhe, Germany. In July 2022 he was a featured performer at the national convention of the American Guild of Organists, held in Seattle. His complete U.S. tour schedule can be seen at www.concertorganists.com.

In July 2019, Dr. Chriss was appointed as University Organist and Artist-in-Residence at Wesleyan University, where he teaches courses in organ and keyboard skills. In October 2019, he was awarded his Doctorate of Music degree from McGill University, where he studied with Hans-Ola Ericsson. He previously studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he received his Master’s degree in historical keyboard and a Bachelor’s degree in Organ Performance, studying with Olivier Latry, Marie-Louise Langlais, and James David Christie.

Dr. Chriss is currently Assistant Organist at Trinity Church Wall Street, New York City, and serves on the editorial board of Vox Humana magazine.

This program is funded in part by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).  More information is available at www.agodrmc.org/our-programs.