Catharine Crozier, renowned concert organist of the 20th century, died on Friday, September 19, 2003 in Portland, Oregon at the age of 89. The cause of death was a severe stroke with complications from pneumonia.
Catharine Crozier was born in Oklahoma, where she began to study the violin, piano and organ at an early age, making her first appearance as a pianist at the age of six. She was awarded a scholarship to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she studied organ with Harold Gleason and graduated with the Bachelor of Music degree and the Performer’s Certificate. As a graduate student, Ms. Crozier received the Artist’s Diploma, the highest award for performance, and the Master of Music degree. In 1939 she was appointed to the organ faculty of the Eastman School of Music and became head of the organ department in 1953.
She received the following honorary degrees: Doctor of Music, from Smith College, Baldwin-Wallace College, and the University of Southern Colorado; the Doctor of Humane Letters from Illinois College and in October, 2000, the Doctor of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music - University of Rochester.
Following her debut at the Washington National Cathedral, Washington DC, in 1942, Catharine Crozier joined the roster of the Bernard LaBerge Concert Management (currently Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.) with which she remained for 61 years. Dr. Crozier played recitals throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, and was heard on national radio in many European countries, the United States, and on Danish National Television. She was one of three organists chosen to play the inaugural organ recital at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in 1962, and was engaged for a solo recital there in 1964. She returned to Lincoln Center to perform a concerto with orchestra at the inauguration of the Kuhn organ in Alice Tully Hall in 1976, followed by a solo recital there one year later. In 1979 she was awarded the International Performer of the Year Award by the New York City chapter of The American Guild of Organists, presented to her by Alice Tully at the conclusion of Crozier’s award recital at Alice Tully Hall. Shortly after this event, she recorded many of the pieces from that recital, for Gothic Records.
From 1955 to 1969 Dr. Crozier was organist of Knowles Memorial Chapel at Rollins College in Florida, where she taught organ. As a teacher, she met with marked success, numbering among her students many distinguished organists. She conducted master classes throughout the United States, teaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York, the Andover Organ Institute, at Claremont College and Stanford University in California, and Northwestern University. In addition she served as a member of the jury at many international organ competitions, the latest being the 1994 Calgary International Organ Festival.
In addition to performing and teaching, Dr. Crozier co-edited several editions of the Method of Organ Playing, written by her husband, Harold Gleason. The first edition of the Gleason book appeared in 1937 and quickly became an essential tool for teaching aspiring organists. The
“Method” gives a musical and technical foundation which includes first-rate scholarship, organ literature and historical information. Following the death of Dr. Gleason, Catharine Crozier edited the seventh edition (1987) and the eighth edition (1995).
In 1993 Catharine Crozier moved to Portland, Oregon, where she was Artist-in-Residence at Trinity Cathedral until early 2003. As Artist-in-Residence, she frequently played organ voluntaries at services, gave solo recitals and continued to teach. Her recent performances were broadcast over Oregon Public Radio and in 2001 she was a featured artist on Oregon Public Television’s “Oregon Art Beat.” Known for her definitive playing of organ works of Ned Rorem and Leo Sowerby, two of the five Delos International CDs she made during the last twenty years of her life included the major organ works of these two composers.
On Dr. Crozier’s 75th and 80th birthdays, she performed solo recitals from memory at The Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA; her 85th birthday recital was played at The First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. Recently, the American Guild of Organists began to compile a video archive series of great organists; Catharine Crozier was the subject of The Master Series, Vol. I, which shows her performing and teaching in her 86th year.
A memorial service/concert and reception will be held on January 26, 2004, at Trinity Cathedral in Portland, Oregon, with the Trinity Cathedral Choir (John Strege, director) and organists David Higgs and Frederick Swann. Memorial donations may be sent to:
Music Endowment Fund, Trinity Cathedral, 147 NW 19th Avenue, Portland OR 97209
September 23, 2003
K. Holtkamp
