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Arthur LaMirande is a concert organist in New York City. He was born in 1936 at Holyoke, Massachusetts, of Quebecois and Scottish parents. He specialises in the organ music of Franz Schmidt, and other 20th-century German/Austrian organ music (Georg Trexler, Karl Höller, Siegfried Reda, Walter Pach, etc.), in addition to the classics and the French romantic school.
He has given concerts at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York; Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis, Missouri; St. Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco, California; St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle, Washington; l'Oratoire St. Joseph, Montreal, Quebec; Holy Rosary Cathedral, Vancouver, British Columbia; Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago; Washington DC National Cathedral; Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris; and Westminster Cathedral, London.
His concerts and recording have been reviewed in: La Presse, Montreal; The Diapason; The American Organist; American Record Guide; Cohn: Recorded Classical Music (Schirmer, New York, 1981); St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The New York Times.
He studied piano in Springfield, Massachusetts with Charles Mackey (pupil of Josef Lhevinne and Ernest Hutchinson in Berlin) and Austin Conradi (another pupil of Ernest Hutchinson in Berlin) at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland. Studied theory with Stefan Grove' and music history with Nicholas Slonimsky, both at Peabody Conservatory. Studied organ with Arthur Howes at Peabody Conservatory, Robert Knox Chapman at Christ Church Cathedral in Springfield, Massachusetts and William Self at St. Thomas Church, New York City.
Interim Organist in 1999 of St. Michael's Cathedral, Springfield, Massachusetts, Arthur LaMirande was earlier Organist of the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, and Organist of St. Catherine of Siena Church, New York City.
Arthur LaMirande has recorded organ music of Schmidt for Lyrichord Discs, New York, 1975, and published an article "Franz Schmidt: A Neglected Master" in The Diapason, March 1976.
He is listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World.
New recording
Arthur LaMirande's most recent CD was recorded on the magnificent organ of the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver. It includes the Chaconne by Franz Schmidt, works by Canadians Bernard Piche' and Vernon Murgatroyd, a work by French composer Daniel-Lesur, and an original improvisation by myself (on the theme of Psalm 15: "You have shown me the path of life"). Private copies are available from Arthur LaMirande for US$20 postpaid.Reviews
"The Complete Organ Works of Franz Schmidt being presented this summer at St. Joseph's Oratory [Montreal] brought to us last evening, in the 5th recital of the series, a new quota of totally unknown music, and above all, the witness of one of the most convincing and most respected interpreters in North America of the post-romantic Austrian being celebrated this year by a double anniversary.""The organist went through his entire program with an authority, a solid technique, and a freshness of registration which, far from slackening toward the conclusion, also characterized the two encores granted without the slightest hesitation."
"The Prelude [Prelude and Fugue in C] of Schmidt played at the beginning of the recital came to a close in a manner so grandiose and so unexpected that the audience spontaneously burst into applause..."
La Presse, Montreal, August 5, 1999
"Lyrichord's album contains two works, chief between them being the massive Prelude and Fugue in E-Flat, "a symphony for organ in two movements," as organist Arthur LaMirande points out in his liner notes. This massive score, composed in 1924, requires considerable time to absorb, so vast are its dimensions and so intricate are its architectural details. A further difficulty thwarting immediate assimilation is Schmidt's sinuously elaborate and highly expressive inner voices, but the time and effort to overcome these several obstacles are well worth the trouble. As acquaintance of the piece ripens into familiarity, the listener is willing to concede, along with LaMirande, "One cannot but be impressed by the marvelously idiomatic writing for the organ, the clarity of the contrapuntal texture, the ingenious coloration...Above all, one is awed by the grandeur of the music, which the organ is so admirably equipped to convey."
... LaMirande successfully projects the overall shape of both works on the disc, although in matters of small detail he could have striven for greater crispness and forthrightness in articulation. In both scores, he utilized the Aeolian-Skinner organ (built 1965) at Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis.
... Lyrichord certainly must be thanked for issuing interesting, unusual material, and LaMirande must be complimented upon investigating music that few of his fellow organists have had the foresight to examine and to bring before the public".
American Record Guide, May 1978
Recent concert appearances:
- August 4, 1999:
- l'Oratoire St. Joseph, Montreal, as part of the annual concert series (Les concerts spirituels). The theme for 1999 was Franz Schmidt. This concert received a major (very favorable) review on August 5, 1999 in the main Montreal newspaper La Presse.
- January 23, 2000:
- St. Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco
- January 30, 2000:
- St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle
- March 5, 2000:
- St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York
- September 1, 2000:
- Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago
- November 12, 2000:
- St. Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco.
- November 19, 2000, 4 p.m.,
- Holy Rosary Cathedral, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- September 9, 2001
- National Cathedral, Washington, DC
- January 6, 2002
- Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France
- January 13, 2002
- Westminster Cathedral, London
- May 15, 2002
- St. Ignatius Church, Tokyo, Japan
- July 18, 2004
- The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington DC.
Contact details and further information
Address:461 Fort Washington Avenue, Suite 33,
New York, NY 10033
Telephone: (212) 928-1050
E-mail Arthur LaMirande