Christa Rakich

  • Visiting Professor of Organ

Areas of Study

Education

  • BA and BS, Oberlin College & Conservatory
  • MA, New England Conservatory

Biography

Organist Christa Rakich has performed widely throughout North America, Europe, and Japan. As a Fulbright Scholar, she studied for two years with Anton Heiller at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. She holds bachelor’s degrees in organ and German from Oberlin College & Conservatory (Phi Beta Kappa, 1975). Upon earning her master’s degree with honors from New England Conservatory, she was invited to join the faculty there and remained for many years, serving ultimately as department co-chair. She has also served on the faculties of Westminster Choir College, Brandeis University, and the University of Connecticut, and as assistant university organist at Harvard.

A prize winner in numerous international organ competitions, Rakich has received particular acclaim for her interpretations of the music of J.S. Bach. With keyboardist Peter Sykes, she performed a complete cycle of Bach’s keyboard works in a series of 34 concerts named Tuesdays With Sebastian, which raised $20,000 for Boston-area charities.

With keyboardist Susan Ferré, Rakich is a founding performer of the Big Moose Bach Festival, which presents Bach cantatas, chamber music, and keyboard music each year in rural Berlin, New Hampshire.

Rakich also pursues an active interest in the clavichord, and she serves as vice president of the Boston Clavichord Society. Her 2018 performance for the society included Otto Singer’s transcription for two clavichords of Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”) with Erica Johnson.

Rakich maintains two artist residencies near her home in Connecticut: with the Congregational Church of Somers and the Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist in West Hartford. Past residencies have included the University of Pennsylvania and First Lutheran Church in Boston.

Clavierübung III, J.S. Bach (Titanic Records, 1983)

Leipzig Chorales, J.S. Bach (Loft Recordings; www.bachleipzigchorales.com)

Trio Sonatas, J.S. Bach (Loft Recordings; www.bachtrios.com)

Live from St. Mark’s Seattle, performance at the National AGO Convention in 2000 (Rezound)

From the Ashes, dedication program for Richards-Fowkes Opus 21 (Loft Recordings)

In Somers Congregational Church, with flutist Greig Shearer and cellist Kathleen Schiano. (www.fromtheashescd.com)

A Tribute to Yuko Hayashi, recorded on Richards-Fowkes Opus 16 at Duke University (Loft Recordings)

Fall 2024

Principal Private Study - Organ — PVST 003
Secondary Private Study - Organ — PVST 053
Secondary Private Study - Clavichord — PVST 089
Keyboard Skills for Organists I: Piano Technique — APST 216
Keyboard Skills for Organists II: Hymn and Liturgical Music Playing — APST 217
Keyboard Skills for Organists III: Improvisation — APST 218
Sacred Music Project — APST 223

Spring 2025

Principal Private Study - Organ — PVST 003
Secondary Private Study - Organ — PVST 053
Secondary Private Study - Clavichord — PVST 089
Introduction to the Organ — APST 114
Keyboard Skills II — APST 215
Keyboard Skills for Organists I: Piano Technique — APST 216
Keyboard Skills for Organists II: Hymn and Liturgical Music Playing — APST 217
Keyboard Skills for Organists III: Improvisation — APST 218
Sacred Music Project — APST 223

Notes

Christa Rakich Commissioned for Chorale Preludes

February 7, 2024

Oxford University Press has commissioned four chorale preludes from Organ Professor Christa Rakich. The pieces are based on hymn tunes Melita, O quanta qualia, Faithfulness, and Hendon. They will appear this spring in two anthologies, Oxford Hymn Settings for Organists, volumes 8 and 9.

Works by Organist Christa Rakich Included in Anthology of Women Composers for Organ

February 4, 2022

The Society of Women Organists in London has selected three organ works by Visiting Professor of Organ Christa Rakich for inclusion in their Anthology of Women Composers for Organ. The Royal College of Organists and the American Guild of Organists will join in the SWO's celebration of Play-a-Woman-Composer Sunday on March 6. Church organists are encouraged to play works by women, record, and upload to social media with the hashtags #WomanComposerSunday and #SWomenOrganists. Rakich's works are available here.

Christa Rakich Releases CD

February 6, 2020

Christa Rakich, visiting professor of organ, has released a new CD on the Loft label. The recording is a tribute to her teacher Yuko Hayashi, and is the premier recording of the Richards-Fowkes organ in Goodson Chapel at the Duke University Seminary. It includes works of Bach, Mendelssohn, Johanna Senfter, James Woodman, Carson Cooman, and her own transcription of Cécile Chaminade's Concertino for Flute and Orchestra, featuring flutist Wendy Rolfe '74.

News

Oberlin Improv Fest 2023 Celebrates Range of Creative Practices

March 2, 2023

This year Oberlin students have had the opportunity for the first time to declare a minor in a new formalized course of study in improvisation. And from Thursday, March 2 through Saturday, March 4, they will have an immersive experience in the Oberlin Improv Fest 2023. All events of the festival are also open to audiences and are free.