Martin Welzel

Martin Welzel (born November 11, 1972, in Vechta, West Germany) is a German organist, musicologist, and pedagogue.

Biography
Martin Welzel received his first musical training in Bremen, where Käte van Tricht (a former student of Karl Straube) was one of his teachers. Between 1993 and 2001, he studied organ with Daniel Roth and Wolfgang Rübsam, piano with Kristin Merscher, and harpsichord with Gerald Hambitzer at the Hochschule für Musik Saar in Saarbrücken. Later, he studied organ and harpsichord with Carole Terry at the University of Washington in Seattle and graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 2005. During his graduate studies, he was the recipient of an Ambassadorial Scholarship from the Rotary Foundation. In 2006–2007, he was acting professor of organ at the Hochschule für Musik in Saarbrücken and lecturer of piano accompaniment at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich from 2017–2021. From 2013 to 2021, he was assistant organist at Theatine Church and Munich Cathedral, and from 2021 to 2022, associate organist at Munich Cathedral. As a concert performer, he has played throughout Europe, in Russia, South Africa, and the United States, and has recorded organ works by Max Reger at Trier Cathedral for Naxos. In 2023, he was appointed as principal organist at the Stadtkirche St. Nikolaus in Wil (Switzerland), where he is artistic director of the organ concert series, "toccatawil." He serves on the faculty of the Diözesane Kirchenmusikschule in St. Gallen as instructor of organ.

Discography

 * Max Reger: Organ Works, Vol. 6. Chorale Fantasia on "Alle Menschen müssen sterben" op. 52, no. 1; Six Trios op. 47; Variations and fugue on an original theme op. 73. Naxos Records (2005).
 * Max Reger: Organ Works, Vol. 8. Chorale Fantasia on "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" op. 27; Excerpts from Twelve Pieces op. 80; Excerpts from 30 Chorale Preludes op. 135a; Prelude and fugue in F-sharp minor (1912); Romance in A minor (1904); Introduction and Passacaglia in D minor (1899). Naxos Records (2008).
 * Max Reger: Organ Works, Vol. 10. Prelude and fugue in E minor op. 85, no. 4; Excerpts from 52 Chorale Preludes op. 67; Prelude and fugue in G-sharp minor (1906); Chorale Fantasia on "Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele" op. 30. Naxos Records (2010).