Alcee Chriss Biography
Winner of the 2017 Canadian International Organ Competition and the Firmin Swinnen Silver Medal at the 2016 Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition, Alcee Chriss III is widely regarded as one of the leading young organists of our time. He has been celebrated for his “grace, skill and abundant proficiency” by the Journal Assist News, Albuquerque. And of his prize-winning performance at the Longwood Gardens Competition, Choir and Organ Magazine declared, “Chriss stole the show.”
Previous competition awards include the First Prize and Audience Prize in the Miami International Organ Competition (2014), the Fort Wayne National Organ Competition (2016), the Albert Schweitzer National Organ Competition in Wethersfield, CT (2013), and the Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists in Austin, TX (2013).
Mr. Chriss has performed throughout the United States and France, and in 2014 was a featured “Rising Star” at the national convention of the American Guild of Organists in Boston. Recent and upcoming performances include the Organ Historical Society’s 2019 convention (Dallas, TX), Riverside Church (New York City), Meyerson Symphony Center (Dallas, TX), John F. Kennedy Center, Washington National Cathedral, Caruth Auditorium, and St. Olaf’s Catholic Church (Minneapolis MN), among others.
In July 2019, Chriss was appointed as University Organist and Artist-in-Residence at Wesleyan University, where he teaches courses in organ and applied music. In October 2019, Alcee will be 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. At Oberlin, he studied organ with James David Christie and Olivier Latry, improvisation with Marie-Louise Langlais, and harpsichord and continuo playing with Webb Wiggins and Hank Knox. He also received a grant from Oberlin’s 1835 fund to spend a month in France studying historic organs and repertoire.
Mr. Chriss is regularly featured at various organ festivals, including the Atlanta International Organ Festival, and he returned to France in April 2016 and November 2017 to perform solo recitals as a part of the Festival Myrelingues in Lyon. He also continues international volunteer work as the parrain of a music immersion course in Lyon’s Duchère district.
In addition to his organ and harpsichord performances, Alcee is also active as a church musician, conductor and jazz pianist.
