The organ world has grown smaller with the passing of legendary organist, scholar, teacher, and performer, Marilyn Mason, yesterday in Florida. Dr. Mason was the foremost champion for commissioning new music for the organ and the benefactor of the AGO/Marilyn Mason Award in Organ Composition.
Marilyn Mason’s performing career took her around the globe. She was the first female organist ever to perform at Westminster Abbey, the first female organist to play in Latin America, and the first American organist to perform in Egypt. She was named the International Performer of the Year by the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists in 1988 and was honored at the AGO Endowment Fund Gala in 2009.
She was the subject of an AGO Master Series teaching video produced in 2009. It can be viewed on YouTube.com.
Marilyn Mason is perhaps best known for having been the longest tenured faculty member at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). She retired in 2014 after having taught for 67 years. During those years, she trained three generations of prize-winning students for successful careers as church organists, performing artists, and teachers.
We will never forget you, Marilyn.
F. Anthony Thurman
Director of Development and Communications
Read Marilyn Mason’s obituary.
Read the New York Times obituary
