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.

Dr. 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 49 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, the Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, 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.”  Cleveland has performed at several international festivals, including the Oregon Bach Festival, Spoleto Festival, Festival Vancouver, the Moscow International Organ Festival, and the International Organ Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Many of Cleveland’s 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 being “Cleveland in Columbus”.

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.  Cleveland has been a member of the jury of several organ competitions, including the AGO National Young Artists Competition, and the Miami International Organ Competition.

Douglas Cleveland has served on the faculties of St. Olaf College, and Northwestern University, where he received the Searle Award for Teaching Excellence.  Dr. Cleveland currently serves on the organ faculty at the University of Washington School of Music, and is also the director of music at Plymouth Church in Seattle.

Revised January 2010