James David Christie

Office: Smith 436
Phone: 508.793.2284
E-mail: jdchrist@holycross.edu

Professor James Christie has been acclaimed as one of the finest organists of his generation. He has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan in solo concerts and with major symphony orchestras under such conductors as Ozawa, Masur, Tennstedt, Dutoit, Bernstein, Davis, Norrington, Pinnock, Parrott and Hogwood. In addition to being a specialist in early music, he has premiered compositions of George Crumb, Ellen Taafe Zwilich,Daniel Pinkham and many others including P.D.Q. Bach (for the one hundredth anniversary of the Boston Pops with John Williams conducting.) He is presently the Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at the College of the Holy Cross and organist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1979, Mr. Christie became the first American to win the First Prize at the International Organ Competition in Bruges, Belgium; he was also the  first person in the history of the competition to win both the First Prize and the Prize of the Audience. Since then, his students have been international prize winners in competitions in Europe and the United States. In 1980, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the New England School of Law for his outstanding contributions to the musical life of Boston. He also holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and the New England Conservatory including the prestigious Artist's Diploma. 

This past season, Professor Christie gave two tours of Europe and performed for major festivals in London, Paris, Leipzig, Milan, Bressanone and Wroclaw. He also served as a member of the international jury to select a new organ for the Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels. He has served on numerous international competition juries as well as conservatory juries in Montreal, Boston, New York, Dublin, Worcester, Lille, Paris, Bruges, Speyer, and Liege. He has recorded for Decca, Nonesuch, Philips, Koch International, BMG, Northeastern records, Bridge and Naxos. He was awarded the Deutschen Schallplatten Preis for his recording of the organ works of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck on the Naxos label. Prof. Christie is also the founder and director of Ensemble Abendmusik, a period-instrument orchestra and chorus devoted to 17th century music. He served on the jury for the 1996 Johann Sebastian Bach International Competition in Leipzig, Germany.