Organists are those who play the organ, whether pipe or electronic. This article or section should be merged with Pipe organ The Casavant pipe organ at Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Montreal The organ is a type of keyboard musical instrument, distinctive because the sound is not produced by a percussion action, as on a piano or celesta, or by...

In the United States there is a national organisation called the American Guild of Organists (AGO). The American Guild of Organists, or AGO, is a national organization of church and concert USA. It is divided into regions and chapters, and publishes a monthly magazine, Membership is not limited to professional organists, but is open to anybody with an interest in organ music. ...

Types of organist

Organists can be divided basically into one of two types, church or concert:

• As the name suggests, church organists typically accompany a church or cathedral's congregation and choir in song at worship times, and provide voluntaries at the end of services. As church repertoire is typically easier, there are more organists in this category.
• Concert organists on the other hand perform concert repertoire at venues, usually solo, but sometimes with an orchestra. Concert repertoire is considerably more difficult, but almost all concert organists also play in churches and/or cathedrals. Concert repertiore typically involves a large organ, usually of the symphonic organ variety.

A church building is a building used in Christian worship. ... A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy (such as the Roman Catholic Church or the Anglican churches), which serves as the central church of a bishopric. ... Orchestra at City Hall (Edmonton). ... The symphonic organ is a style of pipe organ which flourished during the first third of the twentieth century in town halls and other secular public venues (particularly in the United States and the UK). ...

Famous organists

Notable concert organists of today include: Ken Cowan, John Weaver, Daniel Roth, Diane Bish, Thomas Murray, Cherry Rhodes, Olivier Latry, Gillian Weir, and Frederick Hohman. The Kansas born organist and composer Diane Bish is an internationally known artist. ...

Notable organists of the past: Johann Sebastian Bach, Marcel Dupre, Louis Vierne, Cesar Franck, Jean Langlais, Helmut Walcha, Virgil Fox, Charles Courboin, Fernando Germani, Maurice Durufle, MArie-Madeleine Durufle-Chevalier, Jeanne Demessieux, Pierre Cochereau, Jean Langlais, Karl Richter, George Dorringtion Cunningham, Sir George Thalben-Ball, Alexander Schreiner, Camille Saint-Saens, Karl Straube.