German concert organist Felix Hell is a
phenomenon in several ways. Hailed as the “most well known young concert
organist worldwide” (Dr. John Weaver), and “undoubtedly one of the major
talents of the century” (Dr. Frederick Swann, AGO president), he “sets
standards that many established and honoured older players would struggle to
equal” (Michael Barone in “The American Organist”).
Felix has had an active concert career since
the age of nine and has already performed more than 700 recitals throughout his
native Germany, as well as Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France,
Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Korea, Latvia, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia,
Singapore, Spain, Russia, and the USA, where he performed more than 450
recitals in 44 states.
At the age of 21, Felix Hell received global
recognition for his performances of the entire organ works of Johann Sebastian
Bach in three full cycles, presenting roughly 250 works, totalling close to 20
hours of performance time in each of them. Furthermore, he has performed the complete
organ works of Felix Mendelssohn in New
York City, commemorating the composer’s 200th
birthday.
Felix Hell has been soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, the New England Conservatory Philharmony, the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie, the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester and the Pfalztheaterorchester Kaiserslautern. In November of 2004, Felix gave his debut performance in the famous Boston Symphony Hall.
Felix Hell was born in 1985 in
Frankenthal/Pfalz, Germany. He
took his first piano lesson at the age of seven, followed by his first organ
lesson six months later. At age 11, Mr. Hell continued his studies at the
Hochschule für Kirchenmusik in Heidelberg,
studying with Johannes Michel and with Christiane Michel-Ostertun. During this
period, he was also coached by Professors Martin Lücker, Frankfurt; Pieter van
Dijk, Amsterdam; Oleg Yantchenko, Moscow; Wolfgang Rübsam, Saarbrücken; Leo
Krümer, Speyer; Franz Lehrndorfer, Munich; and Robert Griffith,
Delaware/Ohio.
In September 1999, Felix Hell enrolled at The
Juilliard School in New
York. Two years later, Mr. Hell was admitted
to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where
he studied with Dr. John Weaver. While at Curtis, he received valuable impulses
through coachings and masterclasses with Professors Martin Jean, Marie-Claire
Alain, Joan Lippincott and Gillian Weir. In May of 2004, Felix Hell received
his Bachelor of Music degree, making
him – at the age of 18 – the youngest organ major ever to graduate from this
prestigious institute. Felix Hell pursued his graduate studies under the
guidance of Professor Donald Sutherland at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, where
he received his Artist Diploma degree
in May of 2007 and his Master of Music
degree in 2008. In 2009, Felix Hell was awarded Johns Hopkins University's
prestigious Outstanding Graduate Award. Currently, Mr. Hell
is enrolled in the Doctor of Musical Arts
program at Peabody. Since
1999, Felix Hell has consistently received merit-based full tuition scholarships
for his entire studies.
Felix Hell is member of the American Guild of
Organists, the Organ Historical Society, the German Gesellschaft der
Orgelfreunde and the Organ Society of Sydney. He is Organ Artist Associate at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Manhattan, as
well as Distinguished Organist in
Residence at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, PA. In
2007, Mr. Hell was appointed as Adjunct
Professor for Organ at the Sunderman Conservatory in Gettysburg, PA. As of 2011, Felix Hell holds the position of Distinguished Visiting Artist at Kosin University in Busan, South Korea.
Felix Hell's discography includes eight CDs,
encompassing an organ repertoire of five centuries. All of his recordings have
been critically acclaimed by the public as well as by experts. His music is
frequently broadcast on radio stations throughout the United
States, including PIPEDREAMS of Minnesota
Public Radio, as well as by radio stations in Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, New
Zealand, and
by the BBC. He was featured on TV at ABC and NBC, and the German TV stations
ARD, ZDF, SWR, RTL, DW, SAT1, and 3SAT.
Felix Hell is represented by R2C2 Management.
