Eric Plutz is University Organist at Princeton University. There his responsibilities include playing for weekly services at the Chapel, Academic Ceremonies, solo concerts and accompanying the Chapel Choir in services and concerts. He also coordinates the weekly After Noon Concert Series at the University Chapel. In addition, Mr. Plutz is rehearsal accompanist for the Westminster Symphonic Choir at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ.
Mr. Plutz, acclaimed as “an intrepid player” by James Hildreth (The American Organist), has made two solo organ CD recordings on the E. M. Skinner/Mander organ at Princeton University Chapel. On the first, titled Musique Héroïque, the Washington Symphonic Brass joins him. Regarding their performance of the Poème Héroïque by Marcel Dupré, Donald Metz (American Record Guide) said it was “…the best interpretation I’ve heard.” Additionally, Mr. Hildreth wrote, “Plutz performs with gusto, flair, clarity, and strong yet pliant rhythmic control.”
As an organ concert soloist, Mr. Plutz has accepted engagements in distinguished locations across the United States and abroad including Salzburg, Austria (Franziskanerkirche), Philadelphia (Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, the Wanamaker Organ at Macy’s, Center City), New York City (Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, Cathedral of St. John the Divine), Washington, DC (Washington National Cathedral), San Francisco (Grace Cathedral), West Point, NY (Cadet Chapel at the United States Military Academy), and Atlanta (St. Philip’s Cathedral). He was a featured artist at the 2007 Regional Convention for the American Guild of Organists in Baltimore, Maryland, and was a featured performer for the 2007 American Handel Society Conference. At the 2010 National AGO Convention in Washington, DC Mr. Plutz performed twice, in collaboration with two local groups.
Recent performances include a Verizon Hall appearance under the baton of Helmuth Rilling, and both a tape-delay solo concert and a live broadcast of an all-Bach concert on WWFM, the Classical Network. In addition, his playing has been broadcast on NPR’s “Pipedreams” and Philadelphia-based public radio station WRTI’s Wanamaker Organ Hour.
From 1995 through 2004, Mr. Plutz was organist and director of music at Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C., where he oversaw the church’s music program, including directing and accompanying the semi-professional choir, and managing a popular weekly concert series. During that time, he was also organist at Temple Sinai in Washington, accompanist of the Cantate Chamber Singers, and taught organ at the Selma M. Levine School of Music. He has served as dean of the District of Columbia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and, for six years, was the keyboard artist of the Cathedral Choral Society and rehearsal accompanist of the Washington Bach Consort.
As an accompanist, Mr. Plutz has worked with many organizations, including Westminster Choir College of Rider University, National Symphony Orchestra, Choral Arts Society of Washington, Princeton Pro Musica, Washington Symphonic Brass, and the Washington Ballet. He has accompanied the Voices of Ascension conducted by Dennis Keene and has worked with conductors Leonard Slatkin, J. Reilly Lewis and Norman Scribner in various venues in the Washington area, including the National Gallery of Art, the Barns at Wolf Trap and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Originally from Rock Island, Illinois, Mr. Plutz earned a Bachelor of Music degree, magna cum laude, from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in 1989 and a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1991. In 2004, while on sabbatical, he studied in Rochester, New York, with David Higgs, chair of Eastman’s organ department, and in Paris, France, with Marie-Louise Langlais, researching the major organ works of César Franck.