Michael Britt
Adjunct Faculty,
Music
Baltimore native Michael Britt began piano studies with Gwendolyn Logston, and at age 12 he entered the Peabody Preparatory School where he studied piano with Joyze Sutherland, James Warthen, and organ with Gretchen Benchoff. In 1979 Michael entered the Peabody Conservatory of Music where he studied organ with Dr. Paul L. Davis and Improvisation/Sacred Music with Arthur Rhea. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Organ Performance having been the recipient of the Richard L. Phelps Award and a three-time recipient of the Richard Ross Award for organ. In 1980, Michael became the Associate Organist at the Shrine of the Little Flower and in 1981, was appointed Minister of Music where he served for nearly 26 years. In 1984 Michael was a finalist in the Arthur Poister competition in Syracuse, New York. Further studies have been with Thomas Spacht, Donald Sutherland, John Rose and John Walker.
As well as being a frequent recitalist of classical organ literature, Michael is a performer of theatre organ music and is in demand throughout the country as a silent film accompanist, performing for chapters of the American Theatre Organ Society and most recently, for the Region III-American Guild of Organists Convention in Baltimore. He has been featured on Maryland Public Television and other televised presentations on the theatre pipe organ and Maryland’s Free State Theatre Organ Society. In 1998, Michael was invited to perform at Baltimore’s Senator Theatre where he accompanied five silent films for the National Film Registry Tour, which was sponsored in part by the Library of Congress. Mr. Britt has also performed at the Palace Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio; The Paramount Theatre in Anderson, Indiana; The Byrd Theatre in Richmond, Virginia as well as yearly performances at the Capitol Theatre in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. In 2002, Michael was invited to perform a series of concerts on the recently restored Aeolian pipe organ installed at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. In 2005, Michael was invited to Princeton University to accompany the silent film classic, “Phantom of the Opera” at the University Chapel where recently, he completed his tenth performance of this annual event.
In May of 2009, Michael gave a recital on the great Cavaille-Coll organ at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris and studied organ at the Conservatory with Marie-Louise Langlais. In his career as a sacred musician, Michael has been active in commissioning new music for organ, choir, and congregation. He was one of the founders of the Baltimore Archdiocesan Choir and served as Co-Director for four years.
In June of 2012, Michael was appointed Minister of Music and organist at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Maryland. He serves as Assistant Organist at Beth-El Congregation as well as house organist at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, Maryland.
