Frederick Swann

Biography

Frederick Lewis Swann (July 30, 1931 – November 13, 2022) was an American church and concert organist, choral conductor, composer, and president of the American Guild of Organists. His extensive discography includes both solo organ works and choral ensembles he has conducted.

Swann began playing the organ for church services as a ten-year old at a Methodist church in Winchester, Virginia, where his father was pastor. He graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in music and later studied at the School of Sacred Music of Union Theological Seminary in New York City. One of the best-known organists of the 20th and early 21st century, Swann was the former Director of Music and Organist at New York City's Riverside Church and Organist Emeritus of the Crystal Cathedral and the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. Playing the Crystal Cathedral organ on the weekly Hour of Power television program, he was seen by an estimated audience of twenty million viewers in 165 countries.

Swann lived in Palm Desert, California, where he was Artist-in-residence at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church from 2001 until his death in 2022. He was also formerly University Organist and Organ Professor at the University of Redlands prior to his retirement in 2018.

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