Theatre Organist: Michael Xavier Lundy

A native of Wilmington, Delaware, Michael began taking piano lessons at the age of nine. After just one year of piano he developed an interest in the organ and began to educate himself in any way he could on how to play the instrument. After two years of self-educated organ studies, Michael became a professional church organist at the age of 12 as a substitute in many different denominations of churches throughout the Delaware Valley. While attending H.B. Dupont Middle School in Hockessin, Delaware, he served as the accompanist for the choral music department. When a Gulbransen Electronic Theatre Organ was donated for the school’s auditorium, Michael was immediately sought out for the role of House Organist. In his final years of junior high school he acquired a position at the Veterans of Warfare Chapel in Elsmere, Delaware as the Chapel Organist playing weekly services.

When he arrived at John Dickinson High School in Wilmington, Delaware as a freshman he was again recruited for the role of choral music department accompanist. And, of course, he immediately developed an interest in the internationally acclaimed Grand Kimball Theatre Pipe Organ installed in the school’s Auditorium by the Dickinson Theatre Organ Society. This fascination soon led to his election as the School’s Organist, a position that had been vacant for more than 25 years. Throughout high school Michael had the opportunity to travel and perform in many exciting places and venues with the award winning Dickinson High School Concert Choir.

Michael’s career in church music soon began to flourish. He became the Director of Music and Organist at the Avondale United Methodist Church in Avondale, Pennsylvania, then Organist and Choirmaster at Christ United Methodist Church in Elsmere, Delaware, and then on to Saint James Episcopal Church in Newport, Delaware.

In Michael’s senior year of high school, he was invited serve as staff pianist for the concert band and jazz band at Dickinson High School and was appointed House Organist at the Dickinson Auditorium by the Dickinson Theatre Organ Society. He has served on the board of directors of the Dickinson Theatre Organ Society and was honored as of Member of The Year for 2002. During the summer of 2002 Michael was also appointed to the House Organist Staff at the Broadway Theatre in Pitman, New Jersey by the Southern Jersey Theatre Organ Society.

He attended West Chester University as a Music Education Major, and continues to study classical organ under Dr. Neil Harmon. He has also been coached in the theatre organ style by the late Paul Richardson, stadium organist for the Philadelphia Phillies. He has appeared at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pennsylvania playing the Majestic Moeller Theatre Pipe Organ for their annual production of the Nutcracker.
 
In 2005 he moved to Brooklyn, where he was appointed Organist and Director of Music at Siloam Presbyterian Church. He is currently Organist and Director of Music for the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in East Elmhurst, Queens, and also serves on the music staff of John Jay Middle School in Cross River, N.Y. At age 24, Michael has performed numerous organ concerts in both the classical and theatrical realm and delights audiences with his customized concerts for each venue.