Organ Festival

Catalina Organ Festival committee announces the 2024 – 2025 guest artists.

The Catalina Organ Festival is pleased to announce the 2024-2025 guest artists performing on the 57 rank 4 manual Op. 70 Quimby Ralph and Shirley Morgan organ at Catalina United Methodist Church. The Festival has hosted numerous artists domestic and international for Tucson music lovers!

The Festival is entering its second decade of winter concerts and also summer luncheons with recitals. The upcoming season is listed below.

Friday, November 15th, 2024 – Chelsea Chen

 

Monday, April 7, 2025 – Anna Lapwood

 

Friday, February 21, 2025 – Alcee Chriss III

History of the Catalina Organ Festival

This music ministry of Catalina UMC was established with the dedication of the new organ in 2014.
Each year  outstanding organists from around the U. S., Canada and the world come to Tucson.
Internationally Renowned Musicians

The Catalina Organ Festival has recently hosted international performing artists Johann Vexo, Ken Cowan and Nathan Laube.   Prior year artists include: Lynne Davis (France & US), Aaron Tan (Canada), Hector Olivera (Argentina & US) in 2022-2023. Other luminaries of the organ community to grace the chancel at Catalina include: Kimberly Marshall, Douglas Cleveland, Katelyn Emerson, Crista Miller, David Enlow, John Schwandt, Raúl Prieto Ramírez, Christopher Houlihan, Peter Krasinski, Colin Lynch, Jan Kraybill, Dorothy Papadakos, Isabell Demers, David Briggs, Olivier Latry, Shin-Young Lee, and Renée Anne Louprette.

In addition to the major winter concert venues,  the summer ‘In from the Heat’ luncheons and recitals have featured regional artists.  They have included: Ilona Kubiaczyk-Adler, Janet Tolman, Larry Kuipers, Dennis Grannan, Maxine Thévenot, Edmund Connally, Ji Sun Lee, Michael Lich, Joseph Ripka, Jeffrey Campbell, Woosug Kang , Douglas Leightenheimer, David Horr, Emma Whitten, Gordon Stevenson, Margaret Martin Kvamme, Paul Lee, Pamela Decker, Jared Isaac Aragon with Samavaya and David Ramirez on flutes.

We would like to also thank the many ‘angels’ who have generously supported the festival over the past decade, the S. Arizona Chapter of American Guild of Organists (SAAGO) and Catalina United Methodist Church.  A special thank you to the Lodge on the Desert who help to host our guests to Tucson!