DOUGLAS CLEVELAND

Biography

Internationally acclaimed organist Douglas Cleveland was raised in Olympia, Washington and is a sixth generation Washingtonian. He has studied at the Eastman School of Music, Indiana University and Oxford University. His teachers have included Russell Saunders, Larry Smith and Marilyn Keiser. In 1997, Cleveland received a Lilly grant to study advanced choral conducting with David Hill at Winchester Cathedral.

Mr. Cleveland gained international prominence when he won first prize in the 1994 American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition in Dallas. Since then, he has performed in 48 of the United States and has been invited to perform in such venues as Westminster Abbey, The Berlin Cathedral, Stockholm Cathedral, Moscow Conservatory, Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, Minato Mirai Concert Hall in Yokohama, Japan, and the Cathedral of Lausanne, Switzerland.

He has also performed with several symphony orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Northwestern University Symphony and the National Symphony, for an audience of 3,000, at the Washington National Cathedral. Cleveland has performed with various reputable early music ensembles, including Paul Hillier’s “Theatre of Voices.” Many of his performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio, the BBC, and the Northwest radio program “The Organ Loft.” Cleveland has recorded four CD’s on the Gothic label, which have received critical acclaim in major periodicals. His most recent recording for Gothic entitled “Cleveland in Columbus” features a performance on the marvelous new Paul Fritts organ at St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus Ohio.

From 1999 to 2004 he was assistant professor of organ at Northwestern University, where he received the Searle Award for Teaching Excellence. He has served as a visiting faculty member at St. Olaf College and the University of Washington in Seattle. He has performed at several national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, Organ Historical Society, National Pastoral Musicians, and the American Institute of Organ builders. Since 2004, Cleveland has held the position of organist and director of music at Plymouth Congregational Church in Seattle, where he directs three choirs and administers a concert series.

Current as of March 2008