Alexander Richard Straus-Fausto is known for his exhilarating, clean, colorful, virtuosic, sensitive, and innovative organ performances. Alexander is currently a candidate for Master of Music in Organ Performance at Yale University, Institute of Sacred Music, studying organ performance under Dr. Martin Jean and organ improvisation with Dr. Jeffrey Brillhart. Alexander is a graduate of McGill University, Schulich School of Music, class of 2022. His organ teachers and mentors include Dr. Alcee Chriss, Hans-Ola Ericsson, James David Christie, Dr. Jonathan Oldengarm, Rachel Laurin, Christian Lane, Thomas Bara, Dr. Peter Nikiforuk, and Joe Carere. Alexander has a broad repertoire of music, dating from early fifteenth-century keyboard music to contemporary organ music. He is a member of The Diapason’s “20 under 30 Class of 2023,” which recognizes the most talented young artists under the age of 30 who have made significant contributions to the fields of organ performance, harpsichord, and church music.

Through the assistance of a Canada Council for the Arts Grant, he completed a recital tour in the summer of 2019, performing in major Churches and Cathedrals in Great Britain. He has been privileged to perform in several esteemed venues, including Woolsey Hall at Yale (New Haven, CT), Washington National Cathedral (Washington, DC), Princeton University Chapel (Princeton, NJ), Trinity Church Wall Street (New York, NY), Maison Symphonique (Montreal, QC), The Cathedral Church of St. James (Toronto, ON), Kings Lynn Minster/St. Margaret's Church (Norfolk, UK), St. Edmundsbury Cathedral (Bury St. Edmunds, UK), Great St. Mary's (Cambridge, UK), St. Paul's Bloor Street (Toronto, ON) and Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica (Quebec, QC).  With help from the Centennial Millennium Fund of the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, Alexander co-founded Festiv'Orgue in Montreal, which succeeded in bringing a new audience to the organ. He co-produced several concerts in this series, using some of the largest downtown churches' historic symphonic organs, focusing on rock, pop, and Christmas themes. 


2023 highlights include performances at Trinity Church Wall Street in Manhattan, NY; Basilica National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.; and the closing concert of the MusOrgue Festival of the Organ at St. James United Church, Montreal (a program of music written by women and Canadians). In 2023, he was also a semifinalist in The Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition, a prizewinner in the Royal Canadian College of Organists' (RCCO) National Competition, and a participant in Wesleyan University’s celebration of Wagner’s music transcribed for the organ. 

Alexander utilizes a registrationally diverse approach to the organ, capitalizing on the colors of each instrument and the acoustics of the space. He is known for his imaginative outlook and creative programming, heavy on transcriptions and romantic/symphonic organ repertoire. Alexander is passionate about adapting to any instrument, from Baroque Tracker instruments to Orchestral Symphonic organs. His programs typically feature some of the most challenging virtuosic pieces ever written with a nearly flawless technical prowess to serve the composer's intentions and to recreate an orchestra. 

"Alexander Straus-Fausto took an assured, whimsical approach to the D Major Prelude and Fugue from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 874), each measure introducing some fresh orchestral color or percussion"
(Jonathan Ambrosino, Choir and Organ).



Alexander is represented by Seven Eight Artists.
 
 
 



 



Photo by Tam Lan Troung