Olivier Latry

Established as the leading worldwide ambassador for his instrument, French organist Olivier Latry has performed in the world’s most prestigious venues, been the guest of leading orchestras under renowned conductors, recorded for major labels and premiered an impressive number of works. Named titular organist at Notre-Dame in Paris at the age of 23 and organist Emeritus at the Orchestre
National de Montréal since 2012, Olivier Latry is first and foremost an accomplished, thoughtful and adventurous musician, exploring all possible fields of the organ music, with an exceptional talent as an improviser.

Olivier Latry regularly appears in venues like the Berlin Philharmonie, Philharmonie de Paris, Disney Hall, San Francisco’s Davies Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Budapest’s Palace of Arts, Royal Festival Hall, KKL Lucerne, Royal Albert Hall, Suntory Hall, Mariinsky, Moscow’s new Zaryadye Hall, Rotterdam’s de Doelen, Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, and as a soloist with leading orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Berliner Philharmoniker, NHK Symphony Orchestra,
Münchner Philharmoniker, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, RSO Wien, Hong-Kong Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre National de France, under conductors like Myung-Whun Chung, Andris Nelsons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Stéphane Denève, Krzysztof Urbanski, Fabien Gabel, Christoph Eschenbach, Alain Altinoglu, Kent Nagano, Edo de Waart, and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Olivier was artist in residence at the Dresdner Philharmonie in 21/22, a position he already held in 2017-2019.

This season, Olivier will premiere Esa-Pekka Salonen’s first ever organ concerto in Germany and France with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen himself.

Recent highlights include the Belgian, French and North American premieres of Pascal Dusapin’s Waves for organ and orchestra with the Orchestre Symphonique de la Monnaie, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal.

Other past premieres include Kaija Saariaho’s Maan Varjot for organ and orchestra with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre National de Lyon and Philharmonia Orchestra in 2014, and Michael Gandolfi’s concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2015. He also premiered Benoît Mernier’s organ concerto for the inauguration of Brussels’ BOZAR new organ in 2017. In 2019, he played the German premiere of Thierry Escaich’s Third Organ Concerto, with the Dresden Philharmoniker and Stéphane Denève.

His strong attachment to the French organ repertoire led him to record Olivier Messiaen’s complete works for organ for Deutsche Grammophon which he also performed in recitals in Paris, London and New York. In 2005, he also recorded a César Franck album for Deutsche Grammophon. Among several other recordings, Olivier also recorded Saint-Saëns’ Symphony n.3 with Christoph Eschenbach and the Philadelphia Orchestra for Ondine. In 2013, he released Trois Siècles d’Orgue à Notre-Dame de Paris on the Naïve label, which features music composed by past and current organists of Notre-Dame Cathedral. In 2016 he recorded for Warner Music at the Philharmonie de Paris’ Rieger organ. In March 2019, he started a collaboration with La Dolce Volta label with an album called “Bach to the Future”. Recorded on the celebrated organ of Notre Dame, the album features Bach’s transcriptions and original works specially adapted to this extraordinary instrument. His latest latest album on La Dolce Volta is called « Liszt Inspirations ». Recorded on the organ of the Philharmonie de Paris, it was released in May 2021.

In the same period, a book is published on Salvator Editions featuring a conversation between Latry and musicologist Stéphane Friedrich on the strong link between music and liturgy and depicting the numerous aspects of his life as an organist.

A former student of Gaston Litaize, Olivier Latry now teaches at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, and is a recipient of numerous international distinctions and awards worldwide, including the Prix de la Fondation Cino et Simone Del Duca (Institut de France–Académie des Beaux-Arts) in 2000, and “Honoris Causa” Fellowships from the North and Midlands School of Music (UK) in 2006, and from the Royal College of Organists (UK) in 2007. He was also named International Performer of the Year by the American Guild of Organists in April 2009, and received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from McGill University in Montreal Canada in 2010.

From 2019 to 2022, Olivier is William T. Kemper Artist-in-Residence at the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Ks.