Michael Hey

Michael Hey plays Grand Chœur Dialogué  by Eugène Gigout at Saint Patick’s Cathedral, New York City.

Geo. Kilgen & Son
Gallery Organ – Opus 5918 (1930); rev. Peragallo (1993)
Chancel Organ – Opus 3920 (1928); rev. Peragallo (1993)
Electro-pneumatic action, twin five-manual drawknob consoles; 207 registers, 116 stops, 142 ranks. 

In 2023, Michael Hey was appointed director of music and organist of the historic Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. Founded in 1628, it is the oldest church congregation in New York State. He also serves as assistant music director at Park Avenue Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Prior to his appointment at Marble Collegiate Church, Michael Hey served as associate director of music and organist of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City from 2015–2023, where one of his first major tasks was to perform for the first U.S. visit of Pope Francis. From 2010–2015, he was assistant organist at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Not exclusively a solo organist, Michael enjoys a varied career that includes collaborations with other musicians, solo piano recitals, improvising, and transcribing works. He is a proponent of new works for organ and has premiered a number of compositions. He performs works and arrangements for violin and organ with violinist Christiana Liberis in the Hey-Liberis duo.

A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Michael graduated from the accelerated five-year degree program at The Juilliard School, where he received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in organ performance under Paul Jacobs.

Michael Hey is represented in North America exclusively by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC. 
www.concertartists.com

Michael Hey and Christiana Liberis play J. S. Bach’s Violin Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City.

Two classically trained musicians, both with broad musical interests and a variety of work in many of New York City’s musical circles, Michael Hey and Christiana Liberis embarked on a partnership in 2017 to bring a new and fresh approach to the organ and violin repertoire. They continue to explore and create different styles and genres of music for these two instruments.

In 2015, Michael Hey was appointed Associate Director of Music and Organist of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, where one of his first major tasks was to perform for the first U.S. visit of Pope Francis. Michael plays at the Cathedral for services throughout the week which are broadcast on Sirius XM radio, television, and online. Not exclusively a solo organist, Michael enjoys playing piano and collaborating with other artists. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School where he received his B.M. and M.M. degrees in organ performance under Paul Jacobs. www.michaelhey.com

Born in Italy of Italian, Greek, and Polish heritage, violinist/violist Christiana Liberis is a performer of international reach. Based in New York City, Christiana has been heard in concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, and Radio City Music Hall. Christiana’s most recent work encompasses various commercial recording sessions for Philip Glass, recording for the 2021 Superbowl LIV, playing on director Lulu Wang’s new short film “Nian” for Apple-shot entirely on an iPhone 12 Pro Max and in celebration of the Chinese New Year, and performing in a string quartet for a televised special on Bravo for the launch of Brooklyn Point with Ryan Serhant of “Million Dollar Listing.” www.christianaliberis.com

The Hey-Liberis Duo is represented in North America exclusively by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC. 
www.concertartists.com 

See their artist spotlight at https://www.thediapason.com/artists/michael-hey-and-christiana-liberis

Live in concert, March 18, 2022, at Princeton University Chapel, on the Mander-Skinner organ, Princeton, New Jersey.

In 2015 Michael Hey was appointed Associate Director of Music and Organist of the famed Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, where one of his first major tasks was to perform for the first U.S. visit of Pope Francis. Michael plays at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral for services throughout the week, which can be heard on broadcasts through Sirius XM radio, television, and online.

A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Michael graduated in 2014 from the accelerated five-year degree program at The Juilliard School where he received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in organ performance under Paul Jacobs.

Michael Hey is represented in North America exclusively by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC.  www.concertartists.com 

See his artist spotlight at https://www.thediapason.com/artists/michael-hey

"She presented herself as a communicative player with no shortage of imaginative ideas, with
fingers fully capable of backing them up, and with feet which are not just nimble on the pedals, 
but every bit as expressively articulate as her fingers." (Michael Dervan, The Irish Times)

Hailed by The New York Times as “splendid,” and “one of New York's finest organists,” Renée Anne Louprette maintains an international career as organ recitalist, collaborative artist, conductor, and teacher, and is director of the National Competition in Organ Improvisation. She is associated with several distinguished music programs in the New York City area, having served as Associate Director of Music at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, Associate Director of Music and the Arts at Trinity Wall Street, Organist and Associate Director at the Unitarian Church of All Souls, and Director of Music at the Church of Notre Dame.

Ms. Louprette is a U.S.-Romanian Fulbright Scholar who spent the Fall 2022 season in Brașov, Transylvania, completing research on historic Romanian pipe organs. She is Assistant Professor of Music and College Organist at Bard College and a member of the faculty of Bard College Conservatory, where she directs the Bard Baroque Ensemble and leads an annual Bach cantata series. She has directed the organ program at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University since 2013 and is a former faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music, The Hartt School of the University of Hartford, and the John J. Cali School of Music of Montclair State University. 

Ms. Louprette’s European festival recital appearances include Internationaler Orgelsommer, Stuttgart, Germany; Magadino, Switzerland; In Tempore Organi, Italy; Ghent and Hasselt, Belgium; Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Uppsala and Lund cathedrals, Sweden; Bordeaux Cathedral and Toulouse Les Orgues, France, and Organ Nights in Brașov, Romania. In 2018, she made her solo debuts at the Royal Festival Hall in London and the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. She has performed throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, including at Westminster Abbey and the Temple Church in London, St. Giles Cathedral Edinburgh and Dunblane Cathedral (Scotland), Galway Cathedral and Dún Laoghaire (Ireland). 

Her recording of J. S. Bach’s "Great Eighteen Chorales" on the Metzler organ of Trinity College, Cambridge, England, was named a classical music Critics' Choice 2014 by The New York Times. “Une voix française | A French Voice”—her recording of 20th-century French organ repertoire on the Mander organ of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York—received top reviews in British journals Choir & Organ and Organists’ Review and the Dutch journal Orgelniews. Her current recording of Bach’s Clavier-Übung III performed on the Craighead-Saunders organ of Christ Church, Rochester, New York, is scheduled for release in 2023. 

As a collaborative keyboardist, Ms. Louprette has performed with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane, Australia, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the American Brass Quintet, Voices of Ascension, Clarion Music Society, American Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Dance Project, The Dessoff Choirs, Oratorio Society of New York, and Piffaro, among many other ensembles. She has partnered with traditional Irish musician Ivan Goff, with whom she debuted at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles presenting the world premiere of a new work for uilleann pipes and organ by Eve Beglarian, commissioned for the Louprette-Goff duo by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The duo released their album “Bright Vision” to critical acclaim in 2019. The 2021-2022 season featured a join recital in Cluj-Napoca with Romanian saxophonist Zoltán Réman, concerto debuts with The Orchestra Now at the Bard Music Festival “Nadia Boulanger and her World” and with the Auburn Symphony Orchestra at Benaroya Hall in Seattle for the national convention of the American Guild of Organists. 

Ms. Louprette has conducted performances by professional choirs in the greater New York City area accompanied by members of Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola, including the acclaimed U.S. premiere of John Tavener’s Requiem as co-conductor with Kent Tritle. She was selected as a conducting fellow of the Mostly Modern Festival in 2019, premiering several new works with the New York-based American Modern Ensemble. 

Renée Anne Louprette holds a Master of Music degree in conducting from Bard College Conservatory, a Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude in piano performance and Graduate Professional Diploma in organ performance from The Hartt School, University of Hartford. She was awarded a Premier Prix - mention très bien from the Conservatoire National de Région de Toulouse, France and a Diplôme Supérieur in organ performance from the Centre d’Études Supérieures de Musique et de Danse de Toulouse where she studied with Michel Bouvard and Jan Willem Jansen (interpretation) and Philippe Lefebvre (improvisation). She completed additional studies in organ with Dame Gillian Weir, James David Christie, and Guy Bovet.

Renée Anne Louprette is represented in North America exclusively by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC. 
www.concertartists.com
E-mail:  [email protected]
Phone: 860-560-7800
10 Abbott Lane, Dearborn, MI 48120-1001

Johann Vexo plays Danse macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns, recorded at the First Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia.

Johann Vexo is Professor of Organ at the Conservatory as well as the Superior Music Academy in Strasbourg. He has performed extensively throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and Russia. He has appeared as a featured artist in numerous international music festivals and organ series in cities such as Atlanta, Auckland, Chicago, Dallas, Geneva, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Montréal, Munich, New York, Porto, Saint Petersburg, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vienna. His performances have been in notable venues such as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C., the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia, Westminster Abbey in London, the Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Luzern, St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, the Moscow Conservatory, and the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City. He has also performed with various orchestras and musical ensembles.

Johann Vexo has made several recordings of French classical and German romantic music on historic French organs. His most recent recording, performed on the great organ of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, was released on the JAV label. He has over 50 performance videos featured on YouTube.

Johann Vexo is represented in North America exclusively by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC. 
www.concertartists.com 
E-mail:  [email protected] 
Phone: 860-560-7800 
10 Abbott Lane, Dearborn, MI 48120-1001