Marilyn Mason

Marilyn Mason (born June 29, 1925) is an American concert organist, recording artist, and teacher. Mason is Professor Emerita at the University of Michigan. She joined the staff of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1947, became chair of the organ department in 1962, and was named a professor in 1965.Her career as performer, lecturer, adjudicator, and teacher has taken her throughout the western world, at one point performing more than thirty recitals per year. In 1988, she was described as among the important influences on the American organ scene in the second half of the 20th century by the American Guild of Organists New York Chapter when she was named International Performer of the Year. Over her career, she has also commissioned over 75 original works for the organ. In 1985, a C. B. Fisk organ modeled on the eighteenth-century organs of Gottfried Silbermann was commissioned by the University of Michigan School of Music and named the Marilyn Mason Organ in her honor. She was the first American woman organist to perform in Westminster Abbey, the first woman organist to play in Latin America, and the first American organist to perform in Egypt. Masons teaching legacy was recognized in the fall of 2007 when the 47th Conference on Organ Music, which she founded in 1960, was dedicated to her in celebration of her 60th year of teaching. On the occasion of the 2009 GALA, sponsored by the national council of the American Guild of Organists, Dr. Mason was honored as the seventh in a series of organ teachers/performers who have reached the highest level of success in their profession.A biographical video retrospective, A Lifes Harmony, was created in 2007 to recognize Masons exceptional teaching and mentorship. She is the longest-serving faculty member at the University of Michigan, having been on the faculty for 66 years, and was recognized in 2013 with a symposium in her honor titled Teacher of Music, Teacher of Life.

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