We are delighted to announce that Alexander Straus-Fausto has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 John Goss Memorial Scholarship!
Alexander Richard Straus-Fausto is a Canadian organist who has a broad repertoire of music, dating from early fifteenth-century keyboard music to contemporary organ music. Audiences enjoy his exhilarating, clean, colourful, virtuosic, sensitive, and innovative organ performances. He has further expanded the organ’s reach by creating more than 50 original transcriptions of major orchestral works, reflecting his passion for the symphonic organ as a virtually unlimited medium for artistic expression.
He is a member of The Diapason’s “20 under 30 Class of 2023,” which recognizes young artists under the age of 30 who have made significant contributions to the fields of organ performance, harpsichord, organ building, carillon, and church music. In October, Alexander will be a competitor in the Toulouse International Organ Competition, symphonic category. It will be his second international competition, after Longwood Gardens in 2023. He has performed at Trinity Church in Boston; Grace Cathedral in San Francisco; Woolsey Hall at Yale University; Washington National Cathedral; Basilica National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington; Maison Symphonique in Montreal; Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts; Trinity Wall Street in New York City; and many other series, including the Organix Concert Series in Toronto. He is also looking forward to upcoming concerts at La Madeleine in Paris, Westminster Abbey, and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
He will be working on an Artist’s Diploma in the fall with David Higgs at the Eastman School of Music. Alexander graduated with a Master’s degree in organ performance from both the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and the Yale School of Music. He completed his Bachelor of Music at McGill University Schulich School of Music and his secondary school studies at Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Academy. He is represented by Seven Eight Artists.
Alexander is very grateful to the RCCO for their continued support.
