Born in 1949, Clay Christiansen has since 1982 served as Tabernacle Organist on the famous 5-manual, 206-rank Æolian-Skinner organ at the historic Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ten years prior to that he was Organist/Choirmaster at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, also in Salt Lake City. In addition to performing thousands of daily noon recitals, he accompanies the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the world's longest-running network broadcast "Music and the Spoken Word" (www.musicandthespokenword.org) which is performed live each Sunday morning. Touring with the Choir, he has performed across North America, Europe and Israel and appears on most of their prolific discography.
Also in demand as a solo artist, Dr. Christiansen has performed in churches and concert halls across the United States, Canada, and England. Clay's solo organ CD "Organ of the Mormon Tabernacle" is on the Klavier label. Solo performances may also be heard on "Now Let Us Rejoice: Organ Hymns for the Sabbath" Mormon Tabernacle Choir label and solo/duo performances on "The Organ at the Mission Inn" (Riverside, California).
Composer of organ, choral and orchestral works, he holds a Ph.D in music composition from the University of Utah where he studied with Vladimir Ussachevsky, Ramiro Cortes and Bruce Reich. Degrees in organ performance are from the University of Utah and Brigham Young University where he studied with Alexander Schreiner and J. J. Keeler. Post graduate studies were with Robert Noehren, long-time University of Michigan Organist.
Clay and his wife Diane are the happy parents and grandparents of 13 children and over 50 grandchildren.
Organ
music by Clay Christiansen
