Thrivent Action Teams

Good news! Daniel Grotz has been nominated and selected as one of the top twenty, young organists in America. You can read about Daniel in “The Diapason Magazine”.

Daniel Grotz is an Episcopalian organist based in Cincinnati, Ohio. He grew up in Culpeper, Virginia, and began piano lessons at age eight. During his time as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia he decided to become an organist after hearing the excellent organ concerts on Taylor & Boody Opus 3 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2018 he became organist at Church of Our Savior, Episcopal, in Charlottesville, where he remained for four years. He has since completed his master’s degree in organ performance with Michael Unger at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, during which time he was organ scholar at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral, Cincinnati. He is now pursuing his doctorate in organ performance at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he serves as the graduate assistant for the organ program, and he is one of two organ scholars at Saint Francis in the Fields, Harrod’s Creek, the largest Episcopal Church in Kentucky.

An interesting fact: I love Lutheran chorale preludes. I have probably never given an organ concert, even a half recital, without at least one on the program, and I suspect I am one of the only organists in the United States to concertize with Ernst Pepping’s chorale preludes. I play them from a score that he signed!

Also, you have reached a milestone in your friendship with me if I make you watch BBC’s Walking with Dinosaurs.

Proudest achievement: Honestly what I’m proudest of is that I’ve really come full-circle as an organist this past year. In November I gave a concert on Taylor & Boody Opus 3, the instrument that convinced me nine years ago to become an organist. And in February I gave a concert on the 1802 Tannenberg organ at Hebron Lutheran in Madison, Virginia, the only Tannenberg organ in its original location, just fifteen minutes from where I grew up. The concert celebrated the church’s restoration and the community’s German heritage. Hearing well over 200 voices belt A Mighty Fortress Is Our God in that small church was an experience I imagine none of us will forget; it was a cultural moment.

Career aspirations and goals: Someday I want to be the director of music at an Episcopal church with a good community, a good organ, and a strong music program. I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up teaching as well.