People

Michael Koenig, M.A., FRCO - Betts Scholar in Organ Studies

Michael Koenig became the Betts Scholar in Organ Studies at Oxford University in 2024, succeeding Dr Katie Pardee after her highly successful tenure of twenty-three years. As a graduate scholar at St Catherine's College, Michael is currently also finishing a doctorate in Music and Global History, supervised by Prof. Laura Tunbridge and Prof. Andrew Thompson.

Before coming to Oxford, Michael earned MA degrees in organ performance and music education from Vienna University of Music (as a student of the late Michael Radulescu), an MA in African Studies from Copenhagen University and an MA in World History and Cultures from King’s College, London. He is a prize-winning Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and a recipient of the Silver Medal of the Musicians' Company. 

Between 2008 and 2017, Michael completed over two dozen extended trips to Kenya and Nigeria as a visiting organ teacher and recitalist. In 2015, he also acted as the official organist at a Eucharistic service presided over by the late Pope Francis in Nairobi. Furthermore, Michael worked as a recording producer for the Austrian National Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) for many years and was the creator, producer and director of The Organ Show, a magazine show about organ music, webcast by the Royal College of Organists during the COVID-19 pandemic.