Established as the leading worldwide ambassador for his instrument, French organist Olivier Latry has performed in the world’s most prestigious venues, been the guest of leading orchestras under renowned conductors, recorded for major labels and premiered an impressive number of works. Named Titular Organist at Notre-Dame in Paris at the age of 23 and Organist Emeritus at the Orchestre National de Montréal since 2012, Olivier Latry is first and foremost an accomplished, thoughtful and adventurous musician, exploring all possible fields of organ music, with an excetional talent as an improviser.

 

Olivier Latry regularly appears in venues like the Berlin Philharmonie, Philharmonie de Paris, Disney Hall, San Francisco’s Davies Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Budapest’s Palace of Arts, Royal Festival Hall, KKL Lucerne, Royal Albert Hall, Suntory Hall, Mariinsky Theater, Moscow’s Zaryadye Hall, RoYerdam’s de Doelen, Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, and as a soloist with leading orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Berliner Philharmoniker, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, RoYerdam Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, RSO Wien, Hong-Kong Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Göteborg Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, under conductors like Myung-Whun Chung, Andris Nelsons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Osmo Vänskä, Rafael Payare, Stéphane Denève, Krzysztof Urbanski, Fabien Gabel, Christoph Eschenbach, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Alain Altinoglu, Kent Nagano, Edo de Waart, and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Olivier is Artist in Residence at the Dresdner Philharmonie in 2024-25, a position he has already held several times from 2017.

 

In the past two seasons, Olivier premiered Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Sinfonia concertante for organ and orchestra in Finland, France and Germany with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, all conducted by E.P. Salonen.

 

Recent highlights also include the premieres of Pascal Dusapin’s « Waves » for organ and orchestra with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal.

 

Other past premieres include Kaija Saariaho’s « Maan Varjot » for organ and orchestra, Michael Gandolfi’s

« Ascending Lights » for organ and orchestra, Thierry Escaich’s Third Organ Concerto, or Benoît Mernier’s organ concerto.

 

His strong attachment to the French organ repertoire led him to record Olivier Messiaen’s complete works for organ for Deutsche Grammophon which he also performed in recitals in Paris, London and New York. In 2005, he also recorded a César Franck album for Deutsche Grammophon. Among several other recordings, Olivier also recorded Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No.3 with Christoph Eschenbach and the Philadelphia Orchestra for Ondine. In 2013, he released Trois Siècles d’Orgue à Notre-Dame de Paris on the Naïve label, which features music by past and current organists of Notre-Dame Cathedral. In 2016 he recorded for Warner Music on the Philharmonie de Paris’ new organ. In 2019, he started a collaboration with La Dolce Volta, with an album called “Bach to the Future”. Recorded on the celebrated organ of Notre Dame, the album features Bach’s transcriptions and original works adapted to the instrument. His latest latest album on La Dolce Volta is called « Liszt Inspirations ». Recorded at the Philharmonie de Paris, it was released in May 2021.

 

In 2021 Olivier Latry, together with musicologist and journalist Stéphane Friédérich, published a book (Salvator Editions) on the links between organ music and Liturgy, also depicting the diverse aspects of his life as an organist. The book was translated into German and English (Butz-Verlag Editions).

 

A former student of Gaston Litaize, Olivier Latry then became Professor at the Conservatoire National Supé-rieur de Paris. He is a recipient of numerous international distinctions and awards worldwide, including the Prix de la Fondation Cino et Simone Del Duca (Institut de France–Académie des Beaux-Arts) in 2000, and “Honoris Causa” Fellowships from the North and Midlands School of Music (UK) in 2006, and from the Royal College of Organists (UK) in 2007. He was also named International Performer of the Year by the American Guild of Organists in April 2009, and received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from McGill University in Montreal Canada in 2010.

 

From 2019 to 2026, Olivier is William T. Kemper Ar=st-in-Residence at the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Ks.