Christopher Houlihan

Christopher Houlihan
Birth name	Christopher Mark Houlihan
Born	October 6, 1987
Genres	Classical music
Occupations	Concert organist
Instruments	Organ
Labels	Towerhill Recordings
Website	http://www.christopherhoulihan.com

Christopher Houlihan (born 6 October 1987) is an American concert organist. He made his orchestral debut with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in 2008, performing Samuel Barber's Toccata Festiva.

His first CD, Louis Vierne: Second Symphony for Organ was released by Towerhill Recordings in 2007, and featured music of Charles-Marie Widor and Louis Vierne. Christopher was praised for his "elegant playing"^[1] and named "a major talent."^[2] His second CD, "Joys, Mournings, and Battles," recorded on the historic Aeolian-Skinner organ in All Saints Church, Worcester, MA, is set to be released by Towerhill Recordings in 2010.

Houlihan is a graduate of Trinity College (Hartford, CT) where he began his organ studies with John Rose at the age of 12. At 15 he won first prize in the Albert Schweitzer Nation Organ Competition. He has also twice won the Charlotte Hoyt Bagnall Scholarship for Church Musicians, and at Trinity was the first recipient of the John Rose Organ Scholarship.

Houlihan earned the Prix de Perfectionnement from the French National Regional Conservatory in Versailles where he was a student of Jean-Baptiste Robin.  He was also awarded "Le Prix des Amis de l'orgue de Versailles."^{[citation needed]} During his studies in France, he was assistant musician at The American Cathedral in Paris. On a Sunday he was scheduled to play the organ and conduct both choirs for the services, the cathedral received short notice that President George W. Bush and Mrs Bush would attend. The Dean of the cathedral later wrote that he considered Christopher "one of the great heros" of that morning.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005-2006, Houlihan was organ scholar at The Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford and then at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford from 2006-2007.

Houlihan is currently a graduate student at The Juilliard School where he is a student of Paul Jacobs. He is the recipient of an Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship, the John Dexter Bush Scholarship, the Arlin J. Smith Scholarship, and The Chairman’s Grant, awarded to “support a small number of students who have demonstrated exceptional potential for success at Juilliard.”^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ The American Organist, April 2009
2. ^ The American Organist, April 2009

External links

• Official Website
• Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists

Persondata
Name	Houlihan, Christopher
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Date of birth	October 6, 1987
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