Ten years since the last auditions were held, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has announced a new Tabernacle organist.
Dr. Brian Mathias joins the current organ staff — Richard Elliott, Clay Christiansen, Andrew Unsworth, Bonnie Goodliffe and Linda Margetts — as a member of the distinguished group.
“I have been an avid fan of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir since I was a teenager, and it is a dream come true for me to have the opportunity to be a part of what they do,” Mathias said in a news release. “The conductors and organists are musicians of the highest caliber, and I am thrilled to work alongside them.”
His duties, as with the other organists, include performing with the choir in telecasts, recordings, tours, concerts and other appearances, as well as daily organ recitals.
“We are extremely pleased to have Brian join us,” Mack Wilberg, music director of the choir said in a news release. “He is a gifted musician who will add to the excellent tradition of the choir family.”
Mathias comes from Brigham Young University, where he served as an adjunct faculty member and at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. He also worked as associate organist at Country Club Christian Church in Kansas City, Missouri.
Mathias has performed solo performances in various locations around the state of Utah, the United States and internationally. Some highlights include performances in the nation’s capital at the Washington National Cathedral, at BYU-Idaho and at Texas A&M International University in Laredo, Texas. His international competitions include many prestigious organ competitions, including the 2011 and 2014 Canadian International Organ Competitions and the 2010 Grand Prix de Chartres International Organ Competition.
Mathias earned a doctor of musical arts degree at the University of Kansas, and bachelor of music and master of music degrees from Brigham Young University. While in Kansas he studied organ with James Higdon and carillon with Elizabeth Berghout. At BYU he studied organ with Don Cook and Douglas Bush, and carillon with Don Cook.
