The Wondrous Machine: Aleksandr Nisse

It was the Irish poet, Nicholas Brady who coined the phrase “The Wondrous Machine” to describe the organ, and with over 4,000 pipes, 80 speaking stops spread over 4 manuals and pedals, the organ in St Patrick’s is no exception.

This autumn there will be plenty of opportunity to hear this wondrous machine for yourselves with a series of 5 recitals given by St Patrick’s Cathedral Organists and guests from across Ireland as well.

Admission is free, and programmes will be published in the not too distant future.

Aleksandr is the Titular Organist of the St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral in Dublin and is of Russian and French descent. As a child he was influenced by the legendary blind organist Helmut Walcha who was his father’s teacher and by his blind aunt Danielle Salvignol-Nisse, a student of Jean Langlais and Gaston Litaize. Having studied piano with Valery Krol, Aleksandr went on to study organ with Susan Landale in Paris and continued his keyboard studies with Louis Robilliard at the Conservatoire National de Region de Lyon, where he was unanimously awarded “Premier Prix de Perfectionnement” with distinction. A scholarship for postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London followed where he studied under Nicolas Kynaston and Lionel Rogg. He regularly performs concerts in Ireland, Switzerland, France and Germany and succeeded in obtaining an award from TU Dublin for a PhD in composition under the supervision of Prof. Gráinne Mulvey. His research area lies in the application of the exact partial pitches of the harmonic series. His recording, The Ascension, received 4 stars in the BBC Music Magazine and 5 stars in the Choir and Organ magazine.