Richard Ellsasser
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Biography
Richard Ellsasser, born on September 14, 1926, in Cleveland, Ohio, was an American concert organist, composer, and conductor. He began studying piano and organ with his father Frederick Ellsasser and later with Winslow Cheney, Albert Riemenschneider, and Joseph Bonnet. At age seven, Ellsasser toured the eastern United States as an organist with various symphony orchestras. His New York debut followed in 1937. In 1946, he embarked on a transcontinental tour of the United States, performing for over 40,000 people. He recorded numerous albums during the 1950s and 1960s for labels such as MGM Records, Kapp Records, and Nonesuch Records, and published his arrangement of "Rondo in G" in 1951. He also served as Minister of Music at Wilshire United Methodist Church in Los Angeles. Ellsasser suffered a stroke in the late 1960s, which forced him into retirement. He briefly returned to work in 1972 as Minister of Music at the United Baptist Church of Jamaica Plain in Massachusetts before passing away on August 9, 1972, in New York City.
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