Biography

Martin Welzel, DMA, maintains a full schedule of concert performances: St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral in London (United Kingdom), Notre-Dame Cathedral, La Madeleine and Saint-Sulpice in Paris (France), St. Mary's Cathedral in Cape Town and Stellenbosch University (South Africa), Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco, Stanford University, and Washington National Cathedral (United States). He has been featured as a solo artist at international music festivals held in Finland (Helsinki Organ Summer, Pori Organ Festival, Turku Cathedral), Germany (Cathedrals in Berlin, Bremen, Munich, and Speyer), Italy, Norway (Ålesund Church, Bergen International Organ Festival), Portugal (Braga International Organ Festival), and Russia (Moscow and Murmansk Philharmonia Hall), as well as in concerts with various European and American musical ensembles.

In addition to his performance activities, he was acting professor of organ at the Hochschule für Musik in Saarbrücken (Germany) from 2006–2007 and lecturer of piano accompaniment at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich from 2017–2021. He was assistant organist at Theatine Church and Munich Cathedral from 2013–2021, and associate organist at Munich Cathedral from 2021–2022. Since 2023, he is principal organist at the Catholic Parish in Wil (Switzerland) and artistic director of the organ concert series «toccatawil.» He teaches organ performance and improvisation at the Diözesane Kirchenmusikschule St. Gallen, where he is department chair of organ.

Born in 1972 in Vechta (Germany), Martin Welzel received his first musical training in Bremen. Later, he studied organ with Daniel Roth and Wolfgang Rübsam, piano with Kristin Merscher, and harpsichord with Gerald Hambitzer at the Hochschule für Musik in Saarbrücken, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in sacred music and organ performance (with distinction), as well as an artist diploma in organ performance. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA (United States), where he studied with Dr. Carole Terry (organ and harpsichord) and wrote a dissertation on Jeanne Demessieux. In addition, he was the recipient of a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship. He has recorded three CDs with organ music by Max Reger at Trier Cathedral for Naxos.