Organist

An organist is a musician who plays the organ, whether pipe or electronic.

Types of organists

Organists can be divided basically into one of two types, church organists and concert organists:

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• As the name suggests, church organists typically accompany a church or cathedral's congregation and choir in song at worship times, and provide voluntaries at the end of services. Often they also play solo music before, and occasionally during, the service. Larger churches and cathedrals employ full-time professional organists, who are often also responsible for the training and conducting of the choir; a variety of job titles is found, including director of music and (in the UK) master of the music. The largest establishments may also employ one or more assistant organists, sometimes called sub-organists. By contrast, in smaller churches the organist is generally a part-time employee, and not necessarily otherwise professionally involved in music.
• Concert organists on the other hand perform concert repertoire at venues, usually solo, but sometimes with an orchestra. For the most parts, a concert organist usually holds a church position which is quite frequently full-time and is a place to practice. Concert repertoire usually calls for more virtuosity than typical church repertoire, but since almost all concert organists also play in churches, often one can hear a concert piece in a church venue. Obversely, quite often an organ concert will feature a piece of church repertoire such as a chorale prelude. Concert repertoire typically involves a large organ, usually of the symphonic organ variety.