Isabelle Demers’ recital for the 2010 International Society of Organbuilders-American Institute of Organbuilders convention “left the entire congress in an atmosphere of “Demers fever” ̶ something that continues unabated over ten years later. Possessing “bracing virtuosity” (Chicago Classical Review), she has enraptured listeners worldwide with spell-binding performances. Her acclaimed recordings on the Acis and Pro Organo labels have been heralded as “expressive…profound and searching” (RSCM’s Church Music Quarterly). Born in Québec and a graduate of Juilliard, Dr. Demers is Associate Professor of Organ at McGill University in Montréal, Québec.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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From the Critics
“There was none of Reger’s signature density in Demers’ extravagantly contrasted and orchestral registrations…[which]
were impeccably structured. Demers played the whole recital from memory, and her phenomenal playing and obvious
affection for Reger’s music communicated strongly. There is no shortage of organists who make their instruments roar;
and while her power was never in question, Demers made the instrument sing.”
(Peter Reed, Classical Source.com, England, 2016)
“The phenomenal French-Canadian organist Isabelle Demers crafted an imaginative program for her recital on the
Stambaugh Auditorium organ…and delivered it with precision and flair. [She] made seamless registration changes and
negotiated Reger’s dense music with admirable transparency. Demers’ playing amounted to unalloyed musical joy.”
(Daniel Hathaway, ClevelandClassical.com, 2015)
“The virtuosic fingers and feet of Isabelle Demers, a terrific organist.”
(Chicago Tribune)
“All played with bracing virtuosity by organist Isabelle Demers.”
(Chicago Classical Review)
From the Presenters
“She was Incredible! We all loved her playing and her personality!”
(Barry Law, Director of Music, First Presbyterian Church, Fort Smith, AR, February 2020)
“Last week we were treated to one of the most technically difficult and wondrous concerts in our history. Dr. Isabelle
Demers came to Shryock Auditorium after a flight from Iceland via Boston and performed a variety of repertoire from
Bach to Franck to Barié. Yes, Augustin Barié who only lived 32 years but composed a unique Intermezzo for the
organ. The program ended with the most complex pedal work most (if not all) of us had ever seen. We could hear the
melody in the pedal while she performed glissandos and chords with her feet in multiple variations. It was simply
outstanding!”
(Jane Otte, Dean, Southern Illinois Chapter AGO, Carbondale, IL, June 2019)
“Dr. Demers has received well-merited plaudits from around the world, and it was indeed a coup and a treat for Organ
Day (Bloomsbury, England) to have secured her services. Her programme…provided a remarkable conspectus of French
music before the final (official) burst of brilliance, Sir George Thalben-Ball’s incomparably inventive Variations on a
Theme of Paganini for pedals alone. Here was rare musicianship indeed…”.
(Robert Matthew-Walker, 2019 Organ Day in Bloomsbury, England)
“Her performance on Friday evening was not only a staggering display of technique and musicianship, but also a
reflection of the love and joy she brings to her playing. She has such an impish and self-deprecating sense of humor, and
connects so well with her audience, she somehow manages to make everyone feel as if they are swept away on an
excellent adventure of music making! Ms. Demers is a world-class organist who impresses critics with her technique, but
more importantly, impresses audiences with her joy, humor and accessibility. She has a way of connecting with people
that instantly draws them into the music with wide eyes, open ears, and bated breath. Such a lovely gift on a Friday
night in October in Syracuse!”
(Ben Merchant, host, Syracuse Chapter AGO, October 2018)
About Her Recordings
“Of course, any organ, no matter how well endowed, is only a noise-producing machine. It takes a player with an ear
for registration to turn that multiplicity of noises into enticingly appropriate sound, it takes a real musician to
transform those sounds into credible music, and it takes a very special person indeed to communicate persuasive
musical arguments and enticing organ sound to those listening via the impersonal medium of a digital recording. In
Isabelle Demers, we have just such a person. She has a splendid gift for registration, somehow showing off the vast
resources of this organ while, at the same time, making the sound produced seem utterly appropriate for the music
played, and she has that innate understanding of the music which not only makes total sense to those of us listening,
but communicates what the composer is saying with complete conviction. It is hard to imagine a performance of
Reger’s gargantuan Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue delivered with quite such verve and intensity while, at the
same time, making for surprisingly enjoyable listening. But Demers’ skill does not stop there. She has chosen an
excellent programme to show the organ off, and has made two transcriptions of excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping
Beauty and Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream which do what only the very best transcriptions can do;
making them sound utterly idiomatic on the organ. The Mendelssohn Scherzo us an object lesson in understated
virtuosity, bubbling along in a deceptively effortless manner. Organ and player get a thorough workout in the Dupré
Prelude and Fugue in B, a dazzling, celebratory showpiece which, while it seems a bit weighed down by a prominent
pedal line here, proves a fitting culmination to a disc of real organistic excellence.”
(Marc Rochester, Music-Web International, January 2021)
“Isabelle Demers is a Québec-born organist who revels in the music she plays and the sounds she can produce by way
of pipes and air. Her new recording, ‘The Chicago Recital’, goes to glorious extremes, exploring the colouristic and
expressive possibilities of the 1928 Ernest M. Skinner organ known as Opus 634 at the University of Chicago’s
Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. From the most delicate phrases to massive sonorities that shake the ground and ears,
the 8,565-pipe Skinner comes across as a symphonic wonder, thanks to Demers’ inspired hands, feet, and musical
acumen. The most striking, even jolting piece here is Max Reger’s Introduction, Passacaglia, and Fugue, Op. 127. It
requires the services of an artist who is unafraid to tackle formidable structural and textural challenges. Demers meets
them in a performance of virtuoso sensitivity and grandeur.”
(Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone, November 2020)
“This recently-released recording is a must-have, fellow AAM members. Great programing, plus clean, exciting, musical
playing must be the things that make the Canadian-born musician a highly valued member of Phillip Truckenbrod’s
roster….I was completely charmed. This is an excellent CD. Highly Recommended.”
(Marjorie Johnston, The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians, November 2020)
“Isabelle Demers is widely recognized as one of today’s leading concert organists. Here, she demonstrates both her
virtuosity and collaborative skills in handling the challenging solo accompaniment on the instrument previously
commanded by Duruflé himself….While following the composer’s registration directives, Demers and the recording
engineers achieved perfect balance with the chorus. This will likely stand as the finest recording on the current market
of the Duruflé Requiem in its original version, having come back full circle to where it began.”
(James Hildreth, The American Organist magazine, March 2019)
The Chicago Recital (Acis #APL41752)
Bach, Bull & Bombardes (Pro Organo #7259)
Rachel Laurin: Oeuvres pour orgue (Acis #APL49084)
New & the Old (Acis #APL42386)