Crozier, Catharine
Crozier, Catharine
Crozier, Catharine , esteemed American organist and pedagogue; b. Hobart, Okla., Jan. 18, 1914. She was educated at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. (B.M., 1936; artist’s diploma, 1938; M.M., 1941), numbering among her mentors Joseph Bonnet, Yella Pessl, and Harold Gleason , to whom she was later married. In 1941 she made her formal debut at the Washington (D.C.) National Cathedral. After World War II, she pursued an international career as a concert organist. She taught organ (1938–55) and was head of the organ dept. (1953–55) at the Eastman School of Music; then served as prof. of organ at Rollins Coll. in Winter Park, Fla. (1955–69). She maintained an exhaustive repertory, which she fully committed to memory. She particularly championed the cause of contemporary organ music.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire