Dr. Russell Weismann

Equally accomplished as both organist and scholar, Russell Weismann is an emerging young artist whose achievements in performance and academic spheres have earned him international acclaim among audiences and intellectuals alike.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Russell holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from George Mason University, where his dissertation research explored the North American influence of the German organ builder, Rudolf von Beckerath in the context of musical culture and composition. Additionally, Russell completed the Master of Music degree from Yale University and the Bachelor of Music degree cum laude from Duquesne University while earning a certificate of study from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. His primary organ instructors were John Walker and Martin Jean. Additionally, Russell studied harpsichord with Richard Rephann and conducting with Brady Allred and Jeffrey Douma. 

As an organist, Russell has performed recitals across the United States, as well as in Europe, Central America, and Africa. He was awarded the First Place prize in the 2004 American Guild of Organists Regional Young Organists Competition and was twice accepted to participate in the London Summer Organ Course. Russell was also a featured performer at the 2004 American Guild of Organists Convention in Los Angeles, the 2010 Organ Historical Society Convention in Pittsburgh, the 2013 Conference of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians in Washington, DC, and the 2014 American Guild of Organists Convention in Boston, MA (as a finalist in the Schoenstein Organ Competition). Russell has been featured on American Public Media’s Pipedreams radio program, and was among a select few number of organists chosen to play a dedicatory recital on the Rubenstein organ at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during its inaugural year.  

An active member of the American Guild of Organists, Russell successfully achieved the Guild’s Associate, Colleague, and Service Playing certificates, and has served as Past-Dean and sub-Dean of the District of Columbia Chapter as well as a member of the Guild’s National Board for Membership Development. Among his many community outreach efforts, Russell is in his fourth year as Artistic Director of "Music @ the Monastery," a thriving musical event series held at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C., and director of the Capital Organ Studio, a regional based initiative offering private music lessons to students of all ages and abilities. Russell is currently the Director of Music at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Parish in Bethesda, Maryland following posts as Associate Director of Music at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, University Organist at Georgetown University, and University Chapel Organist at Yale University.

As a scholar in the fields of sacred music, music and politics, organ culture, and pedagogy, Russell has earned distinction as a laureate of several scholarships, including the André Marchal award for excellence in the study of sacred music and the Hugh Giles award for distinction in the discipline of music and the arts. He has several articles in print and is focusing his current research on the work of Rudolf von Beckerath in North American, nationalistic expressions in twentieth-century organ building, and complications of monotheism in political song. Russell has held teaching positions at Yale University as a Teaching Fellow in Music History and as a Secondary Organ Instructor, as well as at Georgetown University and George Mason University as Adjunct faculty teaching courses in Music History and Music Theory.