Stairs, Michael

He is an organist and education consultant who studied at the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and the Curtis Institute of Music.

He has held several posts during his career and these include being the Music Director and Organist at the Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, being Assistant Organist at the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ from 1968 to 1988 and being the official organist of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1986 and touring Japan with them in 1993. He has also performed the organ for The Bucks Bounty Choral Society and the Singing City Choir. More recently he has been a member of the Philadelphia Organ Quartet who performed at the National Guild of Organists convention held in Philadephia and is on the board of the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ.

Performing as a soloist and ensemble member he has featured on several recordings that include his own March On!, The Paradise Garden, a Delius Organ Album and Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be? and Romance, Roses and Revelry with Davyd Booth, Gloria! Gloria! by Benita Valente, The Philadelphia Singers and the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.

In the field of musical education he became a faculty member of The Haverford School Music Department in Pennsylvania in 1985. During his time there he established the school’s The Notables a capella group and currently holds the holds the Buck Chair in Music.

The Philadelphia Singers recordings
Adeste Fidelis (Frederick Oakely/John Francis Wade)
RCA 6559-2-RC (Gloria! Gloria!)
Soprano – Benita Valente
Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
Conductor – Michael Korn

Sources:

Stairs, Michael

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