Organist Victoria Shorokhova, who was named to the “20 under 30″ list by an international organ music journal, will be the featured performer at the next concert in the Organ Virtuoso Concert series, on Friday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m. MDT, in the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
“The organ is so colorful, with variety of solo stops,” she wrote in a Facebook post that shared a video of the Tabernacle. She added: “Also the room has just stunning reverb! 5 hours that I spent with the organ today is just not enough.”
How to watch in person or online
The hourlong concert is free and open to the public, and no tickets are required, according to The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’s announcement.
It will also be streamed at 7:30 p.m. on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel, broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and the Gospel Stream app. After the performance ends, the video will be available on demand.
About Victoria Shorokhova
Shorokhova is pursuing a doctor of musical arts degree in organ performance at University of Houston in Texas and is the organ scholar at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas, according to information from the Tabernacle Choir’s announcement. Her recent performances in the U.S. include at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Thomas Church in New York City and Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, in San Francisco, California. She has also performed in Russia and Europe, including Estonia, Netherlands, Germany and Poland.
In 2023, she was named “20 under 30″ in Diapason magazine, a journal about the organ, harpsichord, carillon and church music.
She won second prize in the 2024 National Young Artists Competition in organ performance. In 2022, she received a master of music degree in organ performance at Georgia State University and served as a music intern at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, Georgia, during her studies.
A native of Russia, she graduated from Saint Petersburg Conservatory in piano in 2016 and in organ in 2017. In 2019, she earned a master’s degree at Saint Petersburg State University, majoring in historical performance on keyboard instruments (organ, harpsichord and carillon).
She has also competed in other national and international organ competitions, like III International Braudo Organ Competition in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 2019, and received a diploma and special prize; she was second in the XXVI International Competition of Sacred Music in Rumia, Poland, in 2014.
Shorokhova has participated in organ academies in the Netherlands, Austria and Finland, and master classes in German, U.S., Italy and Canada.
The Tabernacle Organ Virtuoso Performance Series
The Tabernacle Organ Virtuoso Performance Series started in 2022 and was created to showcase the Tabernacle organ and world-renowned organists and has been presented quarterly. This concert with Shorokhova is the 11th in the series.
The series began with concerts by James Higdon, an organist from the University of Kansas; Gabriele Terrone, the Cathedral of the Madeline’s organist and assistant director of music; and Andrew Unsworth, who has been a Tabernacle organist since 2007.
In 2023, performers included Viktor Billa, Ukrainian organist and soloist who is an organist at Trinity United Methodist Church in Tallahassee, Florida; James O’Donnell, professor in the practice of organ at Yale School of Music and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music in New Haven, Connecticut, and has had tenures at the Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral, both in London, England; Daniel Kerr, the chair of the Music Department at Brigham Young University–Idaho; and Brian Mathias, who has been a Tabernacle organist since 2018.
The first concert of 2024 featured Temple Square organist Linda Margetts in February. Organist Diane Meredith Belcher, who has been performing for 50 years, was featured in May. Seth Bott, who is a native of Castle Dale, Utah, and director of music and organist at St. James Episcopal Church in Midvale, Utah, performed in September.
The concerts with Bott, Belcher, Margetts, Mathias, Kerr, O’Donnell, Billa, Unsworth and Terrone are available for on-demand viewing on the choir’s YouTube channel. (See videos below.)
About the Tabernacle organ
The Tabernacle pipe organ has five manuals, or keyboards, and 206 ranks of organ pipes and is among the world’s largest instruments. Its golden pipes are made from wood staves fashioned from Utah timber and still add to the sound of the famous instrument today.
There are also free daily organ concerts at noon in the Tabernacle. Previously, the Tabernacle organists performed a weekly “Piping Up! Organ Concerts at Temple Square” series that was streamed online. The series ended in November 2023, and past performances are available on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel by searching #pipingup.
Playlists of organ music, including “Organ Solos” and “Tabernacle Choir Organ Performances” are available on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel.
Past concerts in the Tabernacle Organ Virtuoso Performance Series
The concerts with Bott, Belcher, Margetts, Mathias, Kerr, O’Donnell, Billa, Unsworth and Terrone are available for on-demand viewing on the choir’s YouTube channel.
