Adam Brakel, Organist at St. James Cathedral in Orlando, Florida

Adam Brakel has earned worldwide acclaim as an internationally acclaimed concert organist. Hailed by NPR as an “absolute organ prodigy with technique and virtuosity that most concert pianists could only dream about”, his performances span from coast-to-coast in America to Europe and Asia.

Early Life and Education

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Professional Career

Adam Brakel is an organist of great distinction and accomplishment who is widely revered for his incredible performances – which have drawn comparisons to Franz Liszt, Glenn Gould, Leonard Bernstein, and Niccolo Paganini among many others.

Graduate of Peabody Conservatory and Duquesne University, Brakel has displayed his virtuosity at numerous venues nationwide. Additionally, he holds an impressive collection of prizes and awards won in various competitions.

One of his most impressive performances was during the re-dedication ceremony of St. James Cathedral’s Wicks organ in Orlando, Florida. Refurbished to feature state-of-the-art technological innovations and installed into an American church for the first time ever, it marked one of his finest moments as an organist.

Achievement and Honors

Brakel is an avid organ enthusiast with a long list of musical credentials to his name. An accomplished multi-instrumentalist and composer, Brakel currently serves as Director of Music at St. James Cathedral in Orlando, Florida; previously, he served on the esteemed College of Notre Dame faculty and set an unofficial record for most solo recitals held simultaneously under one hood. Renowned for his virtuosic performances on a regular basis, Brakel is widely considered the ringleader of his department and known for inspiring colleagues alike inorgan music circles worldwide.

Personal Life

Adam Brakel is an internationally-acclaimed concert organist. Hailed as “an absolute organ prodigy”, he is considered “one of the world’s finest organists” (Chicago Tribune).

Brakel hails from Pittsburgh, PA and received his musical education at Duquesne University where he studied organ with John Walker and David Craighead and harpsichord with Rebecca Rollett. Furthermore, he pursued further training at The Juilliard School in New York City thanks to receiving both the John Dexter Bush Scholarship and Alice Tully Award.

He has undertaken an intensive study of jazz organ music. His performance highlights include Cesar Franck’s entire works for pipe organ and Jeanne Demessieux’s fiendishly difficult Six Etudes from which only few organists worldwide have recorded all parts in its entirety.