Karol Mossakowski, one of the leading organists of his generation and titular organist of the renowned Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris, will perform in Zadar for the first time. His solo recital will take place on 16 September 2027 at 8 p.m. in St Anastasia’s Cathedral, as part of the 4th International St Anastasia’s Organ Festival.

Saint-Sulpice, one of Paris’s most famous churches, holds a special place in the history of French organ music. Its monumental organ, completed in 1862 by the renowned organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, is considered one of the most important instruments in the European organ tradition. Its reputation is closely associated with the distinguished organists who served there, most notably Charles-Marie Widor, who held the post from 1870 to 1933, and his successor Marcel Dupré. This tradition was continued by Daniel Roth, titular organist from 1985 to 2023, who now holds the title of organist emeritus.

Since 2023, Karol Mossakowski and Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin have shared the position of titular organists at Saint-Sulpice. Mossakowski has earned international recognition as a concert organist, improviser and composer. Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin and Daniel Roth, who held the post of titular organist before Mossakowski, have both previously performed at the International St Anastasia’s Organ Festival in Zadar. Their appearances establish a connection between the Zadar festival and the rich organ tradition of the renowned Parisian church.

Mossakowski has received numerous international awards, including the prestigious Grand Prix de Chartres. He performs in leading concert halls around the world and collaborates with distinguished orchestras and conductors. He is particularly renowned for his improvisational skills, which play an important role in his artistic expression.

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The concert programme: 

Louis Vierne 

Pièces de fantaisie

- Hymne au Soleil

- Naïades

- Carillon de Westminster 

Charles-Marie Widor

Bach’s Memento

- Miserere Mei Domine

- Sicilienne

- Marche du Veilleur de Nuit

César Franck

Prélude, fugue et variation 

Maurice Duruflé

Prélude et fugue sur le nom d’Alain

Karol Mossakowski

Improvisation

Karol Mossakowski: Organist, Improviser and Composer

 Karol Mossakowski is one of the leading organists of his generation. Renowned for his exceptional interpretative and improvisational abilities, he has established an international career that brings together concert performance, improvisation and composition. He has won numerous first prizes at international competitions, including the Prague Spring International Music Competition and the Grand Prix de Chartres.

In 2023, he was appointed titular organist of Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris, succeeding a distinguished line of musicians that includes Charles-Marie Widor, Marcel Dupré and Daniel Roth.

An International Concert Career

Highlights of the upcoming season include his debuts at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Tonhalle Zürich. He will perform recitals at the Prague Spring Festival and during a tour of Japan, including concerts at Izumi Hall in Osaka and Musashino Civic Cultural Hall in Tokyo. In the previous season, Mossakowski performed with the Warsaw Philharmonic under Daniel Raiskin and with the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Bleuse. He also made a highly acclaimed recital debut at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and completed a successful recital tour of the United States. On that occasion, New York Classical Review praised his “brilliant displays of colour and dynamics”, highlighting his exceptional creativity and imagination.

Mossakowski regularly appears at leading concert halls and music institutions around the world, including the Philharmonie de Paris, the Auditorium de Radio France, Müpa Budapest, the Warsaw Philharmonic, NOSPR in Katowice, NFM in Wrocław, the Auditorium de Lyon, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, BOZAR in Brussels, Palais Montcalm in Québec City, Konzerthalle Bamberg and the Dresden Philharmonie. He has also performed in the cathedrals of Paris, Berlin, Cologne, Vienna and Milan. His orchestral collaborations include the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre National de France, the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre national de Lyon and the Odense Symphony Orchestra. He has performed under conductors such as Myung-Whun Chung, Kent Nagano, Andris Poga, Jacek Kaspszyk, Antony Hermus, Mikko Franck, Fabien Gabel, Giancarlo Guerrero, Cristian Măcelaru and Lawrence Foster.

Improvisation and Composition

Improvisation occupies a central place in Mossakowski’s artistic work. It is an integral part of his recital programmes, and he is particularly devoted to improvising music for silent films. In 2017, his improvised accompaniment to Carl Theodor Dreyer’s film The Passion of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc), performed at the Lumière Festival in Lyon, was released on DVD by Gaumont. In 2023, he gave the world premiere of Unstern, an organ concerto by composer Philippe Hersant, with the Orchestre national de Lyon under the baton of Antony Hermus. In the same year, he became the first organist to receive the ICMA Orchestra Award. As a composer, Mossakowski has developed a repertoire encompassing vocal and organ works. His Visages Célestes, for mixed choir and two organs, received its world premiere in 2025 at Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris, performed by the Sequenza 9.3 ensemble under the direction of Catherine Simonpietri. From 2021 to 2023, he was Composer in Residence at the Sacred Music Festival in Saint-Malo. During this period, he composed several works, including Les Voiles de la Lumière, an oratorio for three organs and mixed choir, and Trois Versets for three organs.

Recordings

In 2021, Mossakowski released his first solo album, Rivages, featuring works by Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Liszt interwoven with improvisations. In 2023, an album featuring Poulenc’s Organ Concerto and Jongen’s Symphonie concertante, recorded with the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra under Giancarlo Guerrero, was released to international critical acclaim. In 2025, he released his first album recorded on the organ of Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris, paying tribute to his predecessors in this historic post.

Teaching and Musical Education

Mossakowski is deeply committed to teaching. From 2019 to 2026, he was Professor of Improvisation at Musikene, the Higher School of Music of the Basque Country. From 2014 to 2015, he was a Young Artist in Residence at the Cathedral of St. Louis in New Orleans, and from 2017 to 2023, he served as titular organist of Lille Cathedral.

He began learning the piano and organ at the age of three under the guidance of his father. Following his musical education in Poland, he continued his studies in organ, improvisation and composition at the Paris Conservatoire, where his teachers included Olivier Latry, Michel Bouvard, Thierry Escaich and Philippe Lefebvre.