First Sundays on the Fisk: Dr. Christa Rakich

Overview

Concert and recording artist Christa Rakich performs widely throughout North America, Europe, and Japan. She currently serves as Visiting Professor of Organ at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. Near her home in Connecticut, she maintains two Artist-in-Residencies: St. John’s Episcopal Church in West Hartford and the Congregational Church of Somers. Past Artist-in-Residencies have included the University of Pennsylvania and First Lutheran Church in Boston.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Christa Rakich studied with renowned Bach interpreter Anton Heiller at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Organ and German from Oberlin College (Phi Beta Kappa). After receiving her Master’s degree with honors from New England Conservatory, she joined the faculty there, teaching for many years, and 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.

An avid collaborator, Christa Rakich frequently performs with her colleague Susan Ferré at the Big Moose Bach Festival in New Hampshire. With flutist Wendy Rolfe and gambist Alice Robbins, she is a founding member of the Marion Baroque Ensemble, based in Massachusetts, and was for many years keyboardist for the Fanfare Consort, a Connecticut-based ensemble that included baroque trumpet, strings, lute, organ, and harpsichord. With cellist Kathleen Schiano, Rakich commissioned and premiered a Sonata for Organ and Cello by Dutch composer Margaretha Christina de Jong.

One of her recent concerts for the Boston Clavichord Society, an organization she also serves as Vice-President, included a performance with clavichordist Erica Johnson of Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony on 2 clavichords.

A prizewinner at international organ competitions, Rakich has received particular acclaim for her interpretations of the music of J.S. Bach. She has recorded his Clavierübung III, Leipzig Chorales, and Trio Sonatas. Other organ recordings include:

Deferred Voices: Organ Music by Women Composers

Transcriptions from St. Justin’s

Live from Mark’s Cathedral

From the Ashes: Richards-Fowkes Opus 21 in Somers

A Tribute to Yuko Hayashi: Richards-Fowkes Opus 14 at Duke University (release in 2019).