Varnus Xavér
organ
Place of Birth
Date of Birth
1964
Born in Hungary, the first child of a mathematician mother and a jazz pianist father, he knew by the age of six exactly what he would become. His first piano teacher was Emma Németh, a former pupil of Claude Debussy.
At sixteen he undertook his first concert tour of Europe. In 1981 Varnus left Hungary to study with the formidable Pierre Cochereau, the late organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. He was making his North American debut on the 5th of May, 1985 to a three-thousand-strong audience at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Basilica in Washington, D.C. He played on virtually every important organ in the world, including those in Bach's Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Notre-Dame and Saint-Eustache in Paris, Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, as well as the largest existing organ in the world in Philadelphia's Wanamaker Grand Court.
Since 1993, Xavér Varnus has been the Director of the Hungarian International Organ Festival in the old town of Zalaegerszeg, during which he produced and moderated his weekly programme Discs of the Hermit for the Hungarian Broadcasting Corporation.
Over the course of his short career, Xaver Varnus played to more than four million people worldwide and recorded 51 albums. His 1992 Bach-Mozart-Albinoni collection was the number one bestseller of European organ recordings ever published: over two hundred twenty thousand copies sold.
At sixteen he undertook his first concert tour of Europe. In 1981 Varnus left Hungary to study with the formidable Pierre Cochereau, the late organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. He was making his North American debut on the 5th of May, 1985 to a three-thousand-strong audience at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Basilica in Washington, D.C. He played on virtually every important organ in the world, including those in Bach's Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Notre-Dame and Saint-Eustache in Paris, Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, as well as the largest existing organ in the world in Philadelphia's Wanamaker Grand Court.
Since 1993, Xavér Varnus has been the Director of the Hungarian International Organ Festival in the old town of Zalaegerszeg, during which he produced and moderated his weekly programme Discs of the Hermit for the Hungarian Broadcasting Corporation.
Over the course of his short career, Xaver Varnus played to more than four million people worldwide and recorded 51 albums. His 1992 Bach-Mozart-Albinoni collection was the number one bestseller of European organ recordings ever published: over two hundred twenty thousand copies sold.