MICHAEL KLEINSCHMIDT CHOSEN AS TRINTY'S CANON FOR CATHEDRAL MUSIC
Michael Kleinschmidt is the Canon for Cathedral Music at Trinity Cathedral, Portland, Oregon, and took up this post on August 1. For the last six years, he was Director of Music and Organist of Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston, having joined the music team there as Associate Musician in 2001. At Trinity, he directed a program involving ninety singers, ages 8 and up, in choirs that sing three weekly services and join together to offer concerts and special services in the major holiday seasons.
From May, 1993 through Easter Day, 2001, Mr. Kleinschmidt was Organist and Master of Choristers of The Parish of All Saints, Ashmont, in Boston, where he rebuilt All Saints’ Choir of Men and Boys after a 1992 hiatus in their 113-year old tradition, and started a Parish Choir of Women and Girls. He also had the great pleasure of welcoming and inaugurating C. B. Fisk’s Opus 103 organ installed in 1995. For three years prior to moving to Boston, he was Assistant Organist of Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York City, and a pupil of Gerre Hancock.
Michael Kleinschmidt earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Organ Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he was a pupil of Haskell Thomson. As a recipient of a Fulbright Grant, Mr. Kleinschmidt studied organ literature and improvisation with Peter Planyavsky for a year at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria. His Master of Music degree is from the Eastman School of Music, where he was an organ student of the late Russell Saunders.
As a choral conductor, Mr. Kleinschmidt has served as guest conductor for summer choir courses of the Royal School of Church Music/America in St. Louis and North Carolina, and for diocesan youth choir festivals in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
A first prize winner in American Guild of Organists competitions, and in the Flint International Organ Playing Competition, Mr. Kleinschmidt has concertized in numerous North American communities, in Europe, and in Japan. His compact disc, Nativities and Passions, recorded by JAV Recordings, Inc., has received high critical acclaim, and may be purchased through the internet at www.pipeorgancds.com.
As a member of the American Guild of Organists, he served as Coordinator for the AGO Regions I and II Convention, held in Boston in 2009.
Mr. Kleinschmidt's admiration for Trinity Cathedral’s music program was sparked in 1999 when he was guest organist for a Vespers organ recital. He and his spouse, Marc Aubertin, fell in love with Portland during that and subsequent visits, and are very excited about becoming new residents in one of their favorite American cities.
In addition to his professional activities, Mr. Kleinschmidt takes an active interest in Japanese gardening and home design, hiking, and preparing and eating fine food.