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Nathan Laube

About this Artist

A star among young classical musicians, concert organist NATHAN J. LAUBE has quickly earned a place among the organ world’s elite performers.  His brilliant playing, creative programming, and gracious demeanor have thrilled audiences and presenters across the United States and in Europe, and have earned high praise from critics and peers alike.

Recent and upcoming performances by Mr. Laube include major venues in the United States and Europe:  Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Washington National Cathedral, The Mother Church (Boston), Verizon Hall (Philadelphia), Overture Hall (Madison WI), Trinity Cathedral (Portland OR), First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, The Ballroom at Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square PA), Irvine Auditorium (Philadelphia), Girard College Chapel (Philadelphia), Jacoby Symphony Hall (Jacksonville, FL), Spivey Hall (Morrow, GA), Stiftskirche (Stuttgart, Germany), Notre-Dame-du-Taur (Toulouse, France), Cathédrale Saint-Alain (Lavaur, France), and the collegiate chapels of Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA), Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), and University of Chicago.  In Europe Mr. Laube has performed five tours of the United Kingdom, which included concerts at York Minster, Canterbury Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral, Exeter Cathedral, and Truro Cathedral, amongst others.  He has also appeared at the Franciscan Church and St. Nicholas Cathedral (Ljubljana, Slovenia), at the International European Organ Festival held in 2004.  In August 2011 he was the featured Young Artist at the Lahti Organ Festival (Lahti, Finland) where he performed a recital at the Church of the Cross (Ristinkirkko).  In May 2012 he performed in the opening concert of the 2012 Dresden Music Festival at the Frauenkirche with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Laube has been a featured performer at the 2009, 2011, and 2012 national conventions of the Organ Historical Society.  For the American Guild of Organists, he was featured at their 2010 national convention in Washington DC, and more recently in 2012 at the Guild’s national convention in Nashville TN where he performed with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.  In 2013 he will be a featured performer at three regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists.  Many of his live performances have been featured on Minnesota Public Radio’s “Pipedreams.”

In the fall of 2011, Mr. Laube began a graduate degree program at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart Germany as a student of Ludger Lohmann.  For the current academic year (2012-2013), Nathan is the recipient of a prestigious German DAAD Fellowship Study Scholarship to continue his studies in Stuttgart.  He concurrently holds the position of Artist in Residence at The American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris, France, commuting frequently between Stuttgart and Paris to play for services there as his schedule allows.

The recipient of the coveted William Fulbright Grant, Nathan spent the 2010-2011 academic year studying with Michel Bouvard and Jan Willem Jansen at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Toulouse where he earned Prix de Spécialisé with the mention “Très Bien” and “Féliciations du Jury” – the two top honors – in addition to the Prix François Vidal from the city of Toulouse.

A native of Chicago, Nathan earned his Bachelor of Music Degree at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied organ with Alan Morrison and piano with Susan Starr.  Upon graduating, he received the Institute’s two highest awards, the Landis Award for Excellence in Academics and the Aldwell Award for Excellence in Musical Studies.  Early studies in the Chicago area were with Donna Fortney (piano), Dr. Elizabeth Naegele (organ), and Dr. Louis Playford (piano and music theory) at the Chicago Academy for the Arts.

Mr. Laube has won top prizes at several distinguished competitions.  Most recently he was awarded the “Stipendium des Bundespräsidenten” (Scholarship of the President of Germany) at the 2012 Felix Mendelssohn Preis in Berlin, which also included a performance in the Berlin Konzerthaus.  In addition, Nathan has won First Place awards from the prestigious National Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition in September 2004, and from the Chicago American Guild of Organists/Quimby Regional Competition for Young Organists in February 2007.

As a church musician, Nathan currently serves as Artist in Residence at the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris, France.  Previously he served as Organ Scholar at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Organ Scholar at the historic St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Germantown, Philadelphia, PA, and Associate Organist at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Chicago, IL.

Also in demand as an accompanist, Nathan has worked with numerous orchestras, chamber ensembles, and choruses, notably The Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Charles Dutoit and Christoph Eschenbach; The Nashville Symphony under the direction of Giancarlo Guerrero, the renowned Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia under the direction of Matthew Glandorf, and collaborations with Chicago Symphony Orchestra principal trumpeter Chris Martin in acclaimed chamber music recitals in Chicago.

Driven by a keen passion to mentor the next generation of concert organists, Nathan Laube frequently serves on the faculty for Pipe Organ Encounters in the USA, clinics presented by The American Guild of Organists designed to introduce young keyboardists to the pipe organ and its vast repertoire.  Nathan has also taught at the Oberlin Summer Organ Academy in Ohio, and at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Summer Organ Academy in Philadelphia.

Although Nathan’s vast repertoire spans the works of pre-Baroque to living composers, he has become known for his colorful and virtuoso transcriptions of orchestral works by Liszt, Mendelssohn, Mahler, Rossini, and Strauss.  As an Assistant Organist to Peter Richard Conte at the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ – the world’s largest and ultimate “transcription organ” – Nathan performed regularly on their daily recital schedule.  In 2005 he appeared on WRTI Radio’s broadcast of “The Wanamaker Organ Hour” playing many of his original transcriptions.

Nathan’s other interests include medieval and modern architecture, gardening, international travel, exotic cuisine and cooking, as well as sketching and drawing.