Christopher Herrick, International Concert Organist

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Jonathan Hope – Assistant Director of Music wrote:
Christopher’s recital for us in March 2020 was a wonderful event. The combination of Christopher’s presentation of the music’s background and the superlative playing of the brilliantly accessible programme was a lesson to us all. Christopher’s concert appealed equally to seasoned recital-goers and those who may have come to their first organ concert. Both those qualities combined with the Class A playing make Christopher’s concerts each an outreach experience too, meaning his particular style of concerts are not just enjoyable, but hugely essential to the organ world.

--Gloucester Cathedral, UK, 4 March 2020

Wenn jemand die Metzler-Orgel in der Dürener Anna-Kirche noch nicht bis in die letzte Pfeife ausgereizt hat - Christopher Herrick hat es nun geschafft. Beim Abschlusskonzert zum Orgelherbst jedenfalls bestach der 70-jährige Brite mit jugendlicher Virtuosität und einer gewissen Furchtlosigkeit in der Wahl der von ihm gespielten Stücke. ...
newspaper scan

--St. Anna-Kirche, Düren, Germany, 7 October 2012

Die 60 Minuten des Konzertes bleiben als Sternstunde in Erinnerung. Das zahlreiche Publikum erhob sich am Schluss mit einem Ruck zu Standing Ovations. Kopfschüttelnd bekannte eine Besucherin beim Ausgang: «So etwas habe ich noch nie gehört.» Kein Wunder, denn Christopher Herrick gehört zur Weltspitze der Organisten. ...

--Stadtkirche Zofingen, Switzerland, 4 September 2011

C'est un Britannique qui a donné, dimanche dernier, un des plus beaux concerts depuis la création du Festival d'Orgue de Roquevaire. Originalité du programme, virtuosité, musicalité, variété des registrations choisies et évident bonheur de jouer : Christopher Herrick a bien mérité son ovation. ...claviers et pédaliers ont été touchés de façon magnifique. Christopher Herrick sait laisser respirer les notes ou les enchaîner. Le jeu est ample et aérien, complexe et d'une grande clarté. ...[Les deux pièces] données en bis parachevaient magistralement le récital.

--La Marseillaise, 12 Octobre 2011

Accolades by presenters from Christopher Herrick's 2007 North American Tour

Christopher Herrick gave an absolutely brilliant concert here at Concordia, exploiting all the sounds of the instrument in very creative and interesting literature for the organ. Somehow he finds pieces which are fresh and exciting and programs them in a superb way.
Dr. John Behnke, Professor of Music, Concordia University, Mequon, Wisconsin

Christopher Herrick played with complete command, handling the massive Vaughan Williams C minor Prelude and Fugue and fiery Jongen Sonata Eroica as deftly as Iain Farrington's frenetic Fiesta pieces. A master at programming, he kept us totally immersed in the music and swept away by it.
James Freese, Professor of Organ, Concordia University, Mequon, Wisconsin

Christopher Herrick is a favorite here and, following his performances, people unfailingly ask when we will be presenting him again. His selections, registered imaginatively and colorfully, appeal to a broad audience. He is one of the most stunning and creative performers I have had the privilege of hearing.
Bruce G. Smith, Director of Music, Grace Episcopal Church, Utica, New York

Christopher Herrick's programs display virtuosity, sensitivity and musicianship par excellence! A tour de force! Christopher is probably the universal ambassador for the organ.
Eric Osborne, Director of Music Ministries, Trinity Anglican Church, Cambridge, Ontario

Nous avons ici un grand maître dans l'art des couleurs sonores. Christopher Herrick nous fait voyager d'une époque à une autre avec une aisance extraordinaire. Un vrai magicien de l'orgue!
Marc D'Anjou, Organiste, Basilique-Cathédrale de Québec

La musique lui coule dans les veines, et lorsqu'on entend Christopher Herrick jouer de l'orgue, tout semble si facile! Un rare moment de grâce.
Claude Lemieux, Organiste-adjoint, Basilique-Cathédrale de Québec

From stylish Bach and Buxtehude to scintillating Jazz, Christopher Herrick can do it all! Our audience was enthralled with his varied program and vibrant playing.
Paul Merritt, Director of Music and Organist, First-St. Andrew's United Church, London, Ontario

Christopher Herrick designs interesting and entertaining programs and then executes the music with flair, technical skill and excitement. The variety of repertoire appeals to a broad audience.
Tammy-Jo Mortensen, Music Director, Robertson-Wesley United Church, Edmonton, Alberta

Christopher Herrick designed an appealing program and played it flawlessly. Literature was chosen intelligently and rendered with technical mastery and an obvious love of the music. He connected powerfully with our enthusiastic audience.
Arthur Johnson, Director of Music, Trinity Episcopal Church, Reno, Nevada

Having performed twice on our series, Christopher Herrick's programs of great variety and interest, performed with the utmost musicality and perfection, never fail to inspire and delight our audiences. We thank him for making music come alive!
James Buonemani, Organist & Director of Music, St. James' Episcopal Church, Los Angeles, California

The Meyerson Symphony Center has one of the most exciting pipe organs in North America. Built by the Massachusetts firm of C.B.Fisk, it is an instrument of immense power and versatility. And the Meyerson is one of the few symphony halls with acoustics adjustable enough to provide the rich reverberation organ music loves.

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra took advantage of its new relationship with the Hyperion record label to present British organist Christopher Herrick in a solo recital. Mr. Herrick is recording his 11th Organ Fireworks CD at the Meyerson this week, and Sunday's program was a public run-through. Christopher Herrick gave a stunning virtuoso performance.

As the title might tip you off, this wasn't an evening for subtlety or musical sweet nothings. With its big-beef choruses, blazing reeds and thundering pedal stops, the Meyerson instrument is capable of inducing nosebleeds and loosening fillings. Mr. Herrick clearly relished romping way up on the Richter scale, and he did it with enormous panache.

Of the mostly brief 14 pieces on the program only three could be called recognized masterpieces: the Joseph Jongen Sonata eroica, the organ solo from Leos Janácek's Glagolitic Mass and Eugène Gigout's Grand Choeur Dialogué. But a Jean Langlais march on The Battle Hymn of the Republic was impressive in its pompous, wrong-notey way.

There were several recent numbers of decidedly jazzy cast, by Hans-Martin Kiefer, John Behnke and Matthias Nagel. Well, by all means, let the organ prove it can bat its eyes and shift its hips with the best of 'em. The program ended with what sounded like diabolical carousel music with chattering accompaniment, a piece called Festmusikk by Norwegian composer Mons Leidvin Takle.

There was a lot of loud music, and a lot of energy. Few are the organists who could have brought it off so stunningly. But Mr. Herrick played with snap and swing and immense virtuosity, and he managed the myriad registration changes with nary a nanosecond's hesitation. As we say in Texas, boy howdy.

Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News: 9th January 2006 Pomp and Panache

Complete works of Bach, Lincoln Center Festival, New York, 1998

"Mr. Herrick's performances were grand...Mr. Herrick is a virtuoso, no question, and he took risks accordingly.... Especially gratifying for a nonspecialist was Mr. Herrick's general avoidance of registrations only an organist could love. In the chorale partita, he presented a virtual parade of registrations, venturing only once, in the third variation, into one of those sonorities so steeped in overtones that the fundamental pitch could only be intuited."

--The New York Times
[review of Lincoln Center Festival
marathon Bach cycle, opening recital]

"A superb English organist...Mr. Herrick was at the peak of his considerable form, combining precision with panache, interpretive freedom with sheer joy in virtuosity. The playing was, in a word, triumphal."

--The New York Times
[review of Lincoln Center Festival
marathon Bach cycle, closing recital]

"The complete Bach series were extraordinary concerts. You displayed remarkable stamina as well as musicianship.... It was also a wonderful way to end with three standing ovations."

--Nigel Redden, Director, Lincoln Center Festival, New York City

"Just a note to congratulate you on the Tully Hall Bach cycle. To have carried off the feat, and to have played the pieces with such terrific panache (as the Times very aptly put it), was a magnificent accomplishment and an extraordinary gift to New York. I can't remember Bach organ works ever stirring up as much interest..."

--George B. Stauffer, The American Bach Society

"Herrick's performances were quite magnificent. The hall was filled, musicologists were arguing points of authenticity, while organists were discussing Herrick's tempos and registrations. Here is a case where nit-picking is irrelevant, however. The salient issue is that Herrick brought the music to life, giving an individual, differentiated character to every piece....He made the music clear in texture and rhythm...Under his fleet fingers even the most complex fugal designs became logical and easy to follow....Ultimately the highest compliment I can pay Herrick is that I left the auditorium wishing I could come back for the following 13 recitals in this series."

--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
[review of Lincoln Center Festival marathon Bach cycle]

"TOP ORGANIST'S FINE BACH PEDAL: One of the most consistently satisfying events of the Lincoln Center Festival may turn out to be the contribution of a single musician--a kind of inverse ratio of manpower to artistic achievement. The man in question is Christopher Herrick [who] opened a two-week series of the complete organ works of J.S. Bach...blazing brilliance...Good to know there is much more to come."

--New York Post

"Disc of the Month: Bach paced to perfection. With this definitive series of recordings now more than half completed, Christopher Herrick has once again shown that his command of the Bach idiom is as total as any other contemporary organist's. Successful performances of the chorale preludes depend as much on the selection of appropriate tempos as on anything else: Herrick's brisk and truly rousing rendition of the title track bears this out...Herrick displays faultless control...judiciously elaborated with neatly executed ornamentation."

--Classic CD, London

"Unashamed displays of stunning virtuosity...Herrick's now predictable brilliance; familiarity still does not diminish the wonder of such outstanding playing."

--The Gramophone, England

"The air was filled with the most exciting, colorful sounds imaginable. In a few words, Mr. Herrick was just super. He is a delightful man to be with. His playing, beyond criticism. He entertained us and moved us. Great working with you."

--Bartholomew Agar, O.Praem., St. Norbert's Abbey, De Pere, Wisconsin

"Christopher Herrick's performance was an unqualified success in every way. He is a performer par excellence who not only thrills with his keyboard virtuosity but who also entertains the audience with the warmth of his personality and gentle good humor....Mr. Herrick has to be one of the finest organists of the present day, and it was a thrill for us to have him perform the dedication recital."

--Stardust Johnson, Northminster Presbyterian Church, Tucson, Arizona

"Herrick's recital was a friendly, relaxed affair....an artist who has an easy way with an audience, and he introduced each of the pieces on his program with interesting snatches of information."

--The Edmonton Journal, Canada

"Christopher Herrick's runaway success as a recording artist can be explained not simply by his technical brilliance, but also his sympathetic and imaginative approach to individual venues and instruments."

--Classic CD England

"Here is Bach playing of the very highest order...My vote for the best organ record of the year, a stunning and vivid recording. It must be said straight away that these are authoritative, scholarly and perceptive performances....Christopher Herrick's performances are every bit as spectacular as the instrument itself...persuasive, sensitive and genuinely musical performances."

--Gramophone, London

"Herrick brings a fresh, almost improvisatory approach to bear, full of good new ideas. His ornamentation is always characterful and imaginative, and delightful little unexpected touches make for constantly entertaining listening...a player whose Bach playing stands comparison with the very best."

--Organists' Review, England

"An enthusiastic standing-room-only audience....Herrick (let) his listeners enjoy not just the music itself or the organ's glorious sound, but the joy of the physical act of playing the music. That is, unfortunately, a trait all too rare among classical performers."

--Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington

"Christopher Herrick's recital here was a true highlight in not only this year's programs, but a highlight of our entire eleven year history of producing concerts...His playing was of the highest order."

--Charles Whittaker, First Presbyterian Church, Atlanta GA

"Bravo Christopher Herrick! The audience stood up and cheered louder than the tutti on the whole organ at the end of each encore."

--Robert Bright, St. Ann's Church, Washington DC

"Outstanding playing...the freshness and simple joie de vivre that Herrick brings to all Bach's music makes this cycle a winner. Herrick approaches Bach not as a great historic figure but as the creator of living, breathing, frequently smiling music....compelling performances...scintillating and compelling listening."

--Gramophone, Marc Rochester

"His concert was stunningly beautiful, technically and musically astonishing"

--Prof. James Freese, Concordia University, Mequon, Wisconsin

"What a fantastic recital Christopher Herrick presented here...an unparalleled musical experience."

--Joel A. Mathias, Broad Street Presbyterian Church, Columbus, Ohio

"Please accept my heartfelt thanks for a wonderful, inspiring concert...your artistry touched our hearts and lifted our spirits...Many in Tucson, I know, have joined your fan club!"

--The Rev. Andrew G. Ross, Tucson, Arizona