 Stephen Tharp, hailed as “the organist for the connoisseur” (Organ magazine, Germany), “the thinking person’s performer” (Het Orgel), “every bit the equal of any organist” (The American Organist magazine) and “the consumate creative artist” (Michael Barone, Pipedreams), is recognized as one of the great concert organists of our time. Having played 28 solo intercontinental tours and more than 800 North American concerts, Stephen Tharp has built one of the broadest and most well-respected international careers in the world, receiving critical acclaim around the globe.
Stephen Tharp has performed since 1987 at such distinguished venues as St. Bavo, Haarlem; The Royal Albert Hall, London; St. Eustache, Paris; Ste. Croix, Bordeaux; The Hong Kong Cultural Centre; the Town Halls of Sydney and Adelaide, Australia; Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow; the Tonhalle, Zurich; York Minster, England; the Duomo, Milano, Italy; the Cathedrals in Berlin, Köln, München, Münster Passau, Weingarten and Würzburg; the Gewandhaus, Leipzig, Germany; Dvorak Hall, Prague; the Hallgrimskirkju, Reykjavik, Iceland; Jack Singer Hall, Calgary; The Crystal Cathedral, Garden Grove, CA; The Riverside Church, New York City; Rice University, Houston; Spivey Hall, Atlanta; Severance Hall, Cleveland; Symphony Center, Chicago; and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.
A native of Chicago, Tharp holds degrees from Illinois College, Jacksonville, IL and Northwestern University, studying organ with Rudolf Zuiderveld and Wolfgang Rübsam, respectively. He has also worked privately on the art of improvisation with Jean Guillou in Paris.
Stephen Tharp remains one of the most important champions of new organ music in the world, and continues to commission and premiere numerous compositions for the instrument. The first such piece was Jean Guillou’s Instants, Op. 57, which Tharp premiered at King’s College, Cambridge, England in February 1998. Works subsequently dedicated to him include David Briggs’ Toccata “Labyrinth” (2006); Samuel Adler’s Sonata (2005); Eugenio Fagiani’s Stèle (2003); Thierry Escaich’s Trois Poèmes (2002); Philip Moore’s Sinfonietta (2001); Anthony Newman’s Tombeau d’Igor Stravinsky (2000), Toccata and Fuga Sinfonica on BACH (1999) and the Second Symphony (1992); Martha Sullivan’s Slingshot Shivaree for Organ and Percussion (1999); and the pedal solo suite Sequencia Pedalia (1995) by Chicago composer Morgan Simmons. Himself a composer, Tharp was commissioned by Cologne Cathedral, Germany to compose in 2006 his Easter Fanfares for the inauguration of the organ’s new Chamade Tubas.
Mr. Tharp’s live playing has been broadcast on both English and Irish national television, on Radio Prague, orgelnieuws.nl in the Netherlands, and in the U. S. on Minnesota Public Radio’s Pipedreams (www.pipedreams.org). In November 2005, Pipedreams broadcast an entire programme dedicated exclusively to his career, making him one of the few organists in the world ever so honoured. Based for many years in New York City, Tharp is also an active chamber musician nationwide, having performed on organ, piano and harpsichord with artists such as Thomas Hampson, Itzhak Perlman, Jennifer Larmore, Rachel Barton Pine, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the American Boychoir (James Litton, conductor), the St. Thomas Choir (John Scott, conductor, in Duruflé’s Requiem), and at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. His 12 solo organ recordings can be found on the JAV, Naxos, Organum and Ethereal labels, and are available from the Organ Historical Society and JAV Recordings.
Stephen Tharp has held positions in Manhattan at both St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Bartholomew’s Church. In 2006, he was appointed Artist-in-Residence at historic St. Peter’s Church, Perth Amboy, New Jersey, the oldest Episcopal parish in the state.
Stephen Tharp will be included in the 2008 edition of Who’s Who in America.
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